In Texas, some of the rights you usually cannot waive are:

• Your right to obtain unemployment benefits (presuming you’re eligible).
• Your right to file or continue to pursue a workers’ compensation claim.
• Your right to file a charge of discrimination or retaliation with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (although the severance agreement can legally require you to waive any claim for money through your complaint).
• Your right to file a charge of unfair labor practices with the National Labor Relations Board.
• While the law is not 100% black-and-white at the moment, our courts will generally not allow you to have waived your rights under federal law to pursue unpaid overtime pay or minimum wage violations through a typical severance agreement.
• Claims that occur after you sign the agreement (“future claims”). While this is a rare situation (since both sides are going their separate ways at this point), one example where this could occur is if this previous employer unlawfully interferes with a future job offer to you from another employer.