✦ THE FIRST-WEEK TRIAGE · FREE, NO ACCOUNT

Five clocks started when you got the news. Here are yours.

Sixty seconds: your last day and your state in, your real deadlines out \u2014 reviewing your severance, filing for unemployment, the two windows to keep health insurance, and whether your company owed you 60 days' notice. Dates, not vibes.

YOUR LAST DAY (OR THE DAY YOU GOT NOTICE)

YOUR STATE

ARE YOU 40 OR OLDER?

WERE OTHERS LAID OFF WITH YOU?

DOES THE COMPANY HAVE 100+ EMPLOYEES?

YOUR CLOCKS (DATES APPEAR AS YOU TYPE)

Your severance deadline

Check the agreement's own deadline

Answer the age question and this gets specific: 40+ usually means a legal 21-day window (45 in a group layoff).

Decode the agreement (free) →

File for unemployment

Benefits start from the day you file, not the day you were laid off

Type your state above and this fills in the waiting-week rule, the benefit duration, and the official portal.

All 50 states, step by step →

Keep your health plan (COBRA)

About 60 days after your coverage ends

You have about 60 days from your COBRA election notice to opt in (coverage often runs to the end of your last month first, so your exact date is on the notice). Don't pay for it reflexively; price it against the Marketplace first.

COBRA vs. Marketplace, compared →

Buy your own health plan (Marketplace)

60 days from losing coverage

Losing job-based coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment window on the ACA Marketplace. In 2026 it is not automatically cheaper than COBRA, so run both with your real numbers.

Price both in plain English →

Were you owed 60 days' notice? (WARN)

5 minutes, once

The federal WARN Act makes companies with 100+ employees give 60 days' written notice before a mass layoff, or pay for the notice they skipped. Answer the company-size question above and this gets specific.

Look up your company →

Get the printable one-page checklist →

Dates are computed from what you enter and the usual federal/state rules; your paperwork's own dates control. General info, not legal advice.