Is my employer required to give me severance pay?

Severance is a purchase, not an entitlement: the employer offers something beyond what you're already owed, and you give up the right to sue. Your final wages, accrued PTO in payout states, and COBRA notice are owed regardless — they are not severance, and can't be conditioned on signing anything.

When severance is owed: an employment contract or offer letter that promises it; a written severance plan or handbook policy (which may be an ERISA plan the employer must follow); and, in a mass layoff or plant closing, the WARN Act — 60 days' notice for covered layoffs, with back pay owed when notice wasn't given.

If you're offered severance, remember what it buys: your release. That makes the offer negotiable, and it makes the agreement's terms — what you release, what you keep, what's said about references — worth a careful read. See the severance guide for what a valid release must contain, especially if you're 40 or older.