A safety net your team builds.A shield your company backs.
CushionPay is a portable layoff benefit employees build with their own post-tax payroll deductions — and it turns severance from an open-ended negotiation into a structure that's already in place before the conversation starts.
See the cost of doing nothing ↓Employees fund their own accounts, post-tax · Employer can also contribute to employee funds
CushionPayIllustrative employee view — sample data, not a real account.
Severance isn't a line item.
It's a liability with no fixed price.
Every layoff without a plan turns into a negotiation — legal review, ad-hoc payouts, and a review written the same afternoon. CushionPay replaces that with a structure both sides agreed to long before the conversation.
FICA owed on every dollar of traditional severance. CushionPay payouts run through a SUB plan, which is exempt from FICA and from FUTA/SUTA — the tax simply isn't levied.
Of an employee's weekly wage is already covered by state unemployment under a SUB plan. You're topping up the remainder instead of funding the whole cheque.
Four steps. No new headcount, no new budget line.
Turn it on as a benefit
Add CushionPay at open enrollment or roll it out any time. No premiums, no employer contribution to employee funds.
They build their own cushion
Employees opt in and set a post-tax payroll deduction. The funds are theirs — held in FDIC-insured accounts through banking partners, and portable between employers.
The layoff is confirmed, not negotiated
On an involuntary termination, CushionPay verifies it through documentation and employer confirmation. No back-and-forth over what's owed.
Funds release the day it clears
Once verified, the employee's balance is released the same day, and their career transition support is activated.
See workforce risk the way you see everything else that matters — as a number you can plan around.
Model layoff scenarios, compare projected severance costs against current CushionPay coverage, and give Finance a real number instead of a guess.
The first benchmark for how you handle the hardest day.
CushionPay tracks how responsibly employers handle layoffs — payout speed, communication, and the support actually offered. A strong score becomes a recruiting asset; a weak one is a signal you can act on early.
The benefit only works if employees want it.
CushionPay isn't a payroll line item employees forget about. It's an account they own, with support attached to the worst day of their working year.
Same-day payout
Funds are released the day an involuntary termination is verified. No negotiation, no waiting, no paperwork burden.
Employee-owned and portable
The account belongs to the employee, not the employer. It follows them to their next job.
Post-tax contributions
Employees choose a per-cycle amount they're comfortable with. Contributions are post-tax, so there's no surprise tax burden later.
Career transition concierge
Resume support, coaching, mental health resources and job search tools activate alongside the payout.
Cushion Community
A verified peer network for people navigating a career transition, not a public forum.
Already offered CushionPay at work?
Employee sign in →Built to clear procurement, not just HR.
The details your IT and Legal teams will ask for, up front.
Held in FDIC-insured accounts through banking partners, in the employee's name — never on CushionPay's balance sheet, and never on yours.
Access is scoped per employer with row-level security. Employees hold their own login and their own account credentials.
Contributions move by ACH debit through Stripe, with per-debit limits and a full transaction ledger behind every balance.
Dedicated onboarding support, bulk roster import, and invite emails get a pilot group live in weeks rather than a full quarter.
Give your workforce a safety net. Give your company a plan.
See how CushionPay models against your current headcount and severance exposure — no cost, no commitment.