Add Comment Question: Company laid me off to avoid firing me without cause to avoid severance pay after 13 years How do I recover my severance pay after being denied several requests Answer: Thank you for your question. Generally speaking, a temporary layoff cannot be used to avoid severance pay unless you specifically agreed in writing to a temporary layoff beforehand. As such, you very likely have the right to treat this as a termination and obtain compensation for severance. Please contact us at the number below and we can discuss this in more detail. Your Comment * Your Email * Your Name * Your City Note, your name, city and email is not displayed on the website. It is used to notify you that we have approved your comment.