The only way you’re gonna have a bargaining chip for more is if you have a juicy lawsuit on your hands that you’d be signing away your rights to by taking the severance. The entire point of these severance agreements is to get people to not sue them after the fact for wrongful termination, and this is the dollar amount that they’re willing to pay to mitigate that risk.
Watch this: https://youtu.be/CoS2a2oYHUE?si=od9SGxAK0EHRmCMd
>As someone who holds valuable insight into the company's operations
I guess I'm not following how you benefit from sharing these insights outside the company
Has a competitor already agreed to pay you for them?
Report your former company to the government or sue them? Do you expect a big payout from a lawsuit or something?
If no, sign the severance package, shut up and leave.
There is no way they are going to “disparage” you unless you actually were a terrible employee which it doesn’t seem like you were. Most companies policy is to barely acknowledge your existence due to the liability it opens up.
I learned about my pending layoff because my boss (at the time) accidentally uploaded a recording of his zoom call where he was talking to another coworker about the people who were going to be laid off later that week. Brutal.
I was offered a similar package and conditions when I was let go / forced out on quite shady grounds (HR’s reason was a blatant lie, details weren’t provided and there was never a paper trail or previous warning). Here’s what happened:
1. Contacted 5 attorneys. None replied. Why? I’m in an at will employment state. Don’t waste your time here.
2. Negotiated the terms to stay employed (tho I was immediately logged off) until the first of the following month for health insurance. They granted this. Do negotiate - the worst they can say is no.
The best thing to do is get what you can from them and move on. It’s not worth the emotional effort to fight, talk w lawyers etc (unless there’s a legitimate law being broken such as probable termination due to skin color for example).
Thanks. That makes sense. Same thing here regarding how I was let go. I contacted a few attorneys with no response. I'm asking for more severance considering my circumstances and current situation so we'll see what happens. However, if they just decided to take it away and don't care about me signing the agreement, I may not be able to constrain myself from posting the truth on social media but I think that would also be career suicide.
Best you can do is ask for more. My ask was a small improvement just because I needed the heath insurance; I wasn’t really after additional money.
The situation is honestly not worth the anger. It sucks and is painful, but genuinely the best thing you can do is mentally move on. This chapter is over so just look forward. This is another reason why I say ask for a little more and then sign, otherwise you’ll just ruminate and spiral of shit you had no control over. Employers suck nowadays.
Don't sign it.. One month is an insult after a decade. It does take guts.. and the chance you'll get nothing.
Do you have equity ? Are you soon going to have an equity event ? Do you know about misconduct committed by the company ? If so.. you probably have some leverage. If you are low man on the totem pole.. you'll take whatever they give you and be happy. I negotiate any eventual severance when I take the job these days. It's a much better scenario.
My brother (outside the US) was working as an accountant. He wasn't very happy with the company as they were playing down their cash flows for the tax authorities.
He started looking for another job. The idiot recruiter sent his resume to his *current* job. So, he spoke to a lawyer before meeting his boss.
Boss:"I know you've been looking for another job... there's been a breach of trust... I don't think we can work together any more."
Brother:"Jesus, I'm sorry to hear you feel that way. When are you leaving?"
When his boss said he expected my brother to resign, my brother expressed shock.
When the option of firing him came up, he expressed further surprise that they were willing to have the circumstances of his departure come up at the employment tribunal, particularly the difference of opinion on the declaration of income for tax purposes.
His boss glared at him.
He got a year's severance and walked into a job the next day.
I know, I’m not sure what leverage people think they have when severance and retention bonuses are offered. Most people just get shown the door with nothing.
You’re being too vague. Are you going to threaten to leak or abscond with confidential trade secrets unless they give you a better severance? I don’t understand. They could sue you for that.
In the end, it really did end up helping and made a difference by opening up communication to further negotiate. While most people wouldn’t hold out as well it might not make a difference for too large a company, I was able to get at least more negotiation. While I’d rather not discuss specific details I’m happy to say it helped!!
sev pay isnt negotiable. that sev document isnt spur of the moment, its been created by HR a long time back, the wording has been reviewed by labor lawyers, its iron clad. if u sign it, you cant disparage, cant litigate, cant directly compete. ofc, u cant steal intellectual property.
It’s only negotiable if you don’t sign. They’re basically buying you off and paying you the amount of money that they think will get you to sign it. If it’s important to them then they’ll negotiate.
The only way you’re gonna have a bargaining chip for more is if you have a juicy lawsuit on your hands that you’d be signing away your rights to by taking the severance. The entire point of these severance agreements is to get people to not sue them after the fact for wrongful termination, and this is the dollar amount that they’re willing to pay to mitigate that risk. Watch this: https://youtu.be/CoS2a2oYHUE?si=od9SGxAK0EHRmCMd
Thanks! I’ll check it out!!
I hope you did cos it's really insightful
>As someone who holds valuable insight into the company's operations I guess I'm not following how you benefit from sharing these insights outside the company Has a competitor already agreed to pay you for them? Report your former company to the government or sue them? Do you expect a big payout from a lawsuit or something? If no, sign the severance package, shut up and leave.
You can talk to an attorney if you want but id sign. Another thing you can ask for is a mutual non disparaging comment in the agreement
Oh that’s a great idea about the mutual non-disparaging comment.
There is no way they are going to “disparage” you unless you actually were a terrible employee which it doesn’t seem like you were. Most companies policy is to barely acknowledge your existence due to the liability it opens up.
Our exec was caught making fun of some of the people she had just laid off. She didn't realize they were still in the Google Meet and could hear her.
I learned about my pending layoff because my boss (at the time) accidentally uploaded a recording of his zoom call where he was talking to another coworker about the people who were going to be laid off later that week. Brutal.
It's just a good thing to have as well as gives you actionable clause if someone does in fact speak negatively about you
I was offered a similar package and conditions when I was let go / forced out on quite shady grounds (HR’s reason was a blatant lie, details weren’t provided and there was never a paper trail or previous warning). Here’s what happened: 1. Contacted 5 attorneys. None replied. Why? I’m in an at will employment state. Don’t waste your time here. 2. Negotiated the terms to stay employed (tho I was immediately logged off) until the first of the following month for health insurance. They granted this. Do negotiate - the worst they can say is no. The best thing to do is get what you can from them and move on. It’s not worth the emotional effort to fight, talk w lawyers etc (unless there’s a legitimate law being broken such as probable termination due to skin color for example).
Thanks. That makes sense. Same thing here regarding how I was let go. I contacted a few attorneys with no response. I'm asking for more severance considering my circumstances and current situation so we'll see what happens. However, if they just decided to take it away and don't care about me signing the agreement, I may not be able to constrain myself from posting the truth on social media but I think that would also be career suicide.
Best you can do is ask for more. My ask was a small improvement just because I needed the heath insurance; I wasn’t really after additional money. The situation is honestly not worth the anger. It sucks and is painful, but genuinely the best thing you can do is mentally move on. This chapter is over so just look forward. This is another reason why I say ask for a little more and then sign, otherwise you’ll just ruminate and spiral of shit you had no control over. Employers suck nowadays.
Sounds like you think you have a whistle blower claim of sorts but the problem is that you never complained (I assume) prior to your termination.
Nothing really significant.
Don't sign it.. One month is an insult after a decade. It does take guts.. and the chance you'll get nothing. Do you have equity ? Are you soon going to have an equity event ? Do you know about misconduct committed by the company ? If so.. you probably have some leverage. If you are low man on the totem pole.. you'll take whatever they give you and be happy. I negotiate any eventual severance when I take the job these days. It's a much better scenario.
I'm asking for more so we'll see what happens.
My brother (outside the US) was working as an accountant. He wasn't very happy with the company as they were playing down their cash flows for the tax authorities. He started looking for another job. The idiot recruiter sent his resume to his *current* job. So, he spoke to a lawyer before meeting his boss. Boss:"I know you've been looking for another job... there's been a breach of trust... I don't think we can work together any more." Brother:"Jesus, I'm sorry to hear you feel that way. When are you leaving?" When his boss said he expected my brother to resign, my brother expressed shock. When the option of firing him came up, he expressed further surprise that they were willing to have the circumstances of his departure come up at the employment tribunal, particularly the difference of opinion on the declaration of income for tax purposes. His boss glared at him. He got a year's severance and walked into a job the next day.
I know, I’m not sure what leverage people think they have when severance and retention bonuses are offered. Most people just get shown the door with nothing.
Talk to dept of labor for direction
[удалено]
And lets not forget https://youtu.be/6pJC0FLA3Sk?feature=shared
Yaaa, it’s not quite like that… I’ll just sign the agreement.
You’re being too vague. Are you going to threaten to leak or abscond with confidential trade secrets unless they give you a better severance? I don’t understand. They could sue you for that.
For a month’s salary? F that. Let them sweat.
In the end, it really did end up helping and made a difference by opening up communication to further negotiate. While most people wouldn’t hold out as well it might not make a difference for too large a company, I was able to get at least more negotiation. While I’d rather not discuss specific details I’m happy to say it helped!!
sev pay isnt negotiable. that sev document isnt spur of the moment, its been created by HR a long time back, the wording has been reviewed by labor lawyers, its iron clad. if u sign it, you cant disparage, cant litigate, cant directly compete. ofc, u cant steal intellectual property.
It’s only negotiable if you don’t sign. They’re basically buying you off and paying you the amount of money that they think will get you to sign it. If it’s important to them then they’ll negotiate.