If you are laid off, can you negotiate acceleration or continued vesting of unvested RSUs before you sign the separation agreement?

You can ask. Unvested RSUs are usually forfeited when employment ends, and a layoff does not change that by itself. The useful moment is before you sign. The separation agreement has to name the ask: accelerate the next vest, keep vesting through the severance window, or take cash instead. The company can say no. This is not legal, tax, or financial advice.

Are unvested RSUs already forfeited in a layoff?

The plan's default matches a quit. Unvested units usually cancel when employment ends. A layoff notice does not create a right to keep them vesting.

What happens to unvested RSUs if you quit? is that default. A silent separation agreement usually leaves the same forfeiture in place. Leaving before a vesting cliff is a calendar question. It is not this ask.

Read the plan, the grant, and any existing agreement before you treat acceleration as a favor. Altus Law says some acceleration is already written down, and that many plans leave the board discretion to accelerate. If the documents already promise it, the ask is to follow the paper.

Layoff Calculator says there is no statutory right to acceleration, and that it is contractual. That is their sentence. This page is not citing a statute.

What can you ask for before you sign?

Three asks. Keep them separate. None of them is a promise that the company will replace what you lose.

Acceleration means the next vest happens early. Units that would have vested on the next date vest now, or on the separation date, only if they agree to that.

Continued vesting means units keep vesting through the severance window, on the cadence the grant already uses: a cliff, then monthly or quarterly. It does not print a list of vest dates. It does not start a new schedule.

A cash stand-in means money instead of the units. You are not keeping the RSUs. You are asking for a payment in their place.

Ruggles Law, writing about California severance agreements, lists those three and a fourth: stay employed through the vest date. They present that list as a California ask, not as a national rule. A company can still say no to all four.

Astor says companies are more willing when the layoff is a broad reduction, a vest falls inside 60-90 days, or the role was senior. That 60-90 day window is their claim. It is not a term in your plan.

Why the signature is the line

If the agreement is silent, the plan's forfeiture stands. Ruggles Law says silence is treated as forfeiture under the plan, and that leverage drops once the release is signed. After you sign, the ask is mostly over.

This is timing, not a script. You are not owed a yes. You are checking whether the unsigned agreement names anything other than the plan's default. A sentence that says equity "will be discussed" does not name an ask.

How this differs from quitting, and from a make-whole

Quitting is the page linked above. You leave on your own, and unvested RSUs are typically forfeited. A layoff uses the same default unless the separation agreement changes it.

A make-whole is a different question. It is a grant from a new company, meant to replace equity you forfeited. It is not acceleration. It is not continued vesting. It is not cash from the company that laid you off. There is no page for that ask yet.

Walk-away cost is the forfeited remainder if you leave. It is not the text of a separation agreement.

What the agreement should name if they say yes

If they agree, the agreement should name three things. Which units. Which form: accelerated, continued, or cash. Through what date, or through what window.

Continued vesting stays on the grant's cadence: a cliff, then monthly or quarterly. If the form is missing, you are back to the plan. Acceleration should say which vest moves. A cash stand-in should say it is cash, and what it stands in for. Continued vesting should say the window, and that the existing cadence still applies.

Do not fill that blank with a list of your own vest dates. The agreement is naming a form and a window, not reprinting the grant.

FAQ

Are unvested RSUs already gone when you are laid off? Usually yes, unless the plan or the separation agreement says otherwise. A layoff does not flip the default by itself.

What are you actually asking for? One of three things: the next vest accelerated, vesting continued through the severance window, or cash instead of the units. They are not the same ask.

Why does the signature matter? A silent agreement leaves the plan's forfeiture in place. Once the release is signed, the ask is mostly over.

How is this different from a make-whole? A make-whole is a new company's grant to replace what you forfeited. It is not a term in the separation agreement.

What should the agreement say if they agree? Which units, which form, and through what date or window. The cadence is a cliff, then monthly or quarterly. It is not a list of dates.

Sources:

• Astor, RSUs when you are laid off (their 60-90 day window)
• Ruggles Law, How to negotiate RSU acceleration in a California severance agreement (California list, not a national rule)
• Altus Law, What to know before signing a separation agreement (read the documents; board discretion)
• Layoff Calculator, Equity acceleration clauses (their "no statutory right" sentence)

If you want a private figure for what leaving is worth, see Worth Leaving.