Severance Pay Calculator (US & Mainland China)
Estimate what you could walk away with under typical US severance practice or mainland China's Labor Contract Law — with the actual legal citations and a step-by-step negotiation checklist.
Gross weekly wage is the usual basis. Find it on a recent pay stub.
How it works
- Pick your region — United States or Mainland China. Each uses a completely different rule set.
- Enter your weekly or monthly pay and your total years of service. In China you can use a decimal, such as 3.4 for 3 years and 5 months.
- Read your estimate, the legal citations behind it, and the five-step negotiation checklist before you talk to HR.
No. This is a planning estimate based on common US severance practice and the statutory framework of China's Labor Contract Law. Actual amounts depend on your employment agreement, company policy, local rules and the specific facts of your case.
No. Every calculation runs locally in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded, sent to a server, or stored anywhere after you close the tab.
Per Article 47 of the Labor Contract Law: economic compensation is one month's wage for each full year of service; six months up to one year counts as one year; less than six months counts as half a month's wage.
No. US federal law does not require employers to pay severance. The WARN Act only requires 60 days' advance notice — or pay in lieu of notice — for covered plant closings and mass layoffs at employers with 100 or more employees.
N is the statutory economic compensation (Articles 46-47). N+1 adds one extra month's wage when an Article 40 no-fault dismissal is carried out without 30 days' written notice. 2N is double compensation for an unlawful termination, under Article 87.
Who this tool is for
If you have been told your role is being eliminated, your fixed-term contract is running out, or the company has offered a mutual exit, this calculator gives you a number to react to before you answer HR. US readers should focus on the range, because severance there is mostly set by contract, policy and bargaining rather than a fixed statutory formula. Readers in mainland China should focus on the N, N+1 and 2N rows, because the practical question is usually which statutory category fits the situation.
It is also useful for a partner or friend helping someone prepare, and for comparing two offers where one includes a severance promise. It is not built for a dispute that already has a lawyer involved, and it cannot predict what an arbitrator or court would decide.
How to read your result
In the US mode the output is a deliberate range: one week of pay per year of service at the bottom, two weeks at the top. Both figures come from the two inputs — weekly pay multiplied by years, then multiplied again for the upper bound. Treat the midpoint as the number you could mention without blinking, and the top as the outcome that would be pleasant but not absurd. Health coverage, outplacement, unused vacation and equity sit outside the arithmetic.
In the China mode the headline is N, the number of months, and the table turns it into three amounts. N covers scenarios such as a mutual agreement or an expiring fixed-term contract. N+1 adds one extra month when an Article 40 no-fault dismissal happens without 30 days' written notice. 2N is the double figure associated with an unlawful termination. The rounding rule is the part people misread: full years count one month each, a remainder of six months or more rounds up to a full year, and a remainder under six months counts as half a month. If your wage is above three times the published local average, the statutory cap and the 12-year service cap may reduce the real figure; the calculator does not apply that cap automatically.
A worked example
Take a US employee with $1,450 in gross weekly pay and 6.5 years of service. The lower bound is 1,450 × 1 × 6.5 = $9,425. The upper bound is 1,450 × 2 × 6.5 = $18,850. The midpoint is $14,137.50. None of that is an entitlement; it is a shape for the conversation.
Now take a China employee with a monthly wage of ¥21,000 and 5 years 5 months, entered as 5.4. The calculator reads five full years and a five-month remainder, so the half-month rule applies and N = 5.5. The three amounts are 21,000 × 5.5 = ¥115,500 for N, 21,000 × 6.5 = ¥136,500 for N+1, and 21,000 × 5.5 × 2 = ¥231,000 for 2N. If ¥21,000 is above three times the local average, the capped version could be much smaller — confirm that locally instead of assuming.
Common mistakes
- Entering take-home pay in the US mode. Gross weekly pay is the usual basis, and a net figure shrinks every number in the result.
- Typing 5.5 for five years and five months in the China field. The field expects decimal years, so that period is about 5.4.
- Reading the US range as a legal minimum. Federal law does not mandate severance; the range reflects common practice.
- Treating N+1 as automatic. It belongs to one dismissal route without the 30-day notice, not to every exit.
- Ignoring the cap or signing the first document in the room. Both mistakes cost more than the calculator can show.
This page is an estimate for planning and general information only. It is not legal advice. Rules, local averages and enforcement differ by state, province and city, and change over time. For a signed release, a real dispute or any important decision, consult a licensed attorney or your local labor authority.
Sources and further reading
Severance formulas and notice requirements cited here are checked against the sources below. Statutory rules differ by state and country — confirm the current text before you rely on a figure.