Countless self-help books explain how to deal with the ending of a romantic relationship, but there is scarcely any guidance on how to deal with a parting of the ways with your employer.

Whether it’s called redundancy or dismissal, the situation is the same ? your employer wants you to go. The golden rule at any meeting that follows the news that you are to lose your job is not to agree or disagree with any departure terms that may be offered. Ask for any proposals to be put in writing, then ask yourself what you want to achieve. Is it simply to obtain the biggest payoff possible or are other issues also important to you, such as help finding another job? Once you have an offer, the next step is to compare it with your legal entitlement. You have two potential claims, one contractual and the other statutory. If you are dismissed without notice or justification, the starting point for calculating contractual compensation is an amount equal to the value of the net salary and fringe benefits, such as pension contributions that you would have received during a notice period.

The length of your notice period is key in calculating the value of your contractual claim. However, if you have a long notice period, typically in excess of between three and six months, the employer may argue that you have a duty to seek to minimise your losses by looking for and accepting suitable alternative work. If your employer discovers during negotiations that you have already lined up another well-paid job, the compensation may be drastically reduced. You also have some rights that are provided by statute. Employees who have at least one year’s continuous employment at the date of dismissal may have a claim for unfair dismissal.

Apart from limited circumstances, such as retirement or redundancy, share options that have not been exercised by the dismissal date usually lapse with immediate effect, even if the employee is dismissed without justification. But many schemes include a discretion that enables the employee to exercise the share options within a set period of time after termination of employment. It is worth attempting to persuade your employer to exercise that discretion on the basis that it is a real benefit for the employee and does not increase the headline figure payable.