Poll:Did you receive a "package" from your employer when you retired?

[stepford]

Just wondering how many had their final exits incentivized. I have a couple of friends who were in upper management who both got very lucrative exit deals while most of my other friends got little or nothing.

I personally fell somewhere in between: As a minor cog in a MegaCorp I didn't really have any leverage and so got the standard RIF package - 6 months salary as severance plus 6 months COBRA. (to which I was able to add pay for a few months of unused sick leave and vacation ending up with about a year's worth of pay all told). Way better than nothing, so I'm not complaining, but I'm curious about folks experience on E-R.org.

 

[tryan]

As a fellow minor clog my standard severance was 14 weeks pay (after 19 years) head hunter services (due to my managment position) and the ability to collect unemployment and Cobra.

Simply put, the message was "don't let the door hit you in the a$$"

 

[COcheesehead]

I got a party. A good party, but just a party.

 

[REWahoo]

I didn't get a package but I did get a cardboard box. Made it easy to pack my stuff and carry it to the parking lot.

 

[Midpack]

I retired early on my own terms, surprised the hell out of all my co-workers, my "incentive" was non monetary (sick of monumentally self absorbed Corp types)...

 

[Winemaker]

I received 8 weeks of pay after I gave notice. I asked why they were still paying me, I'm not coming back. They then clawed all 8 weeks back.

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

I was in an executive position but worked for the government so no incentive to retire other than my pension.
My direct reports had a party for me that was exactly what I wanted. Cupcakes and just a chance to visit with them.

I retired at the end of last year with 12/29 being my last day. Most people were off due to the holiday closure and I had been mostly working from home.
I had no one to turn my laptop/phone and other county property in so I didn’t do that until January 3? I think.
And that was the end of that.

 

[scrabbler1]

The only thing I got when I left my company that I didn't expect was some additional PTO time I didn't know I had. It came to about $1,400, so it wasn't trivial.

 

[punkinhead]

I didn't but at the time my Megacorp wasn't trying to downsize. I did get a verbal promise that I'd get a pro-rated percentage of my year end bonus but they stiffed me on that. It was probably $5k or so but I decided to let it go because I'm so happy to be retired that I'd prefer to just forget about the place.

 

[Willers]

I got a party that the company was too cheap to pay for so I reimbursed those that fronted the cash for it. It was a great party and it reminded me why I was so glad to be retiring.

 

[Alan]

Just wondering how many had their final exits incentivized. I have a couple of friends who were in upper management who both got very lucrative exit deals while most of my other friends got little or nothing.

I personally fell somewhere in between: As a minor cog in a MegaCorp I didn't really have any leverage and so got the standard RIF package - 6 months salary as severance plus 6 months COBRA. (to which I was able to add pay for a few months of unused sick leave and vacation ending up with about a year's worth of pay all told). Way better than nothing, so I'm not complaining, but I'm curious about folks experience on E-R.org.


PS. If anyone knows how to edit the poll categories, please let me know. The simple proofreading error in option #2 is embarrassing.

I fixed the wording as requested.

I received the standard package, incentivized with the “80” points system where one could retire with immediate pension plus health insurance when one’s age plus years of service was 80 or higher. I took advantage at age 55 and 25 years of service. A great incentive for me at the time

 

[luckydude]

The only "package" I got was a lunch combo at a chain restaurant---and the food was bad.

Other than that, the best "package" was the fresh air outside when I walked out for the last time.

 

[scrabbler1]

The only "package" I got was a lunch combo at a chain restaurant---and the food was bad.

I never liked going to those group luncheons. So, I told everyone not to have one for me. Two good things happened as a result: My best friend at the office took me out to lunch to our favorite diner, and they group gave me the money they would have spent on the luncheon, about $160. Not bad, huh?

 

[luckydude]

I never liked going to those group luncheons. So, I told everyone not to have one for me. Two good things happened as a result: My best friend at the office took me out to lunch to our favorite diner, and they group gave me the money they would have spent on the luncheon, about $160. Not bad, huh?

That's a great deal!

I think the price for the lunch combo I got was $9.99. I would have happily taken that money, gone off to Del Taco on my own and enjoyed 4 fish tacos + a big root beer with spare change leftover to give to the homeless dude outside the front door.

 

[Souschef]

I got a cake and a clock with a plaque attesting to my years there. For a number of years I kept the clock going, until one day I realized I did not care what time it was, I did the same thing when my watch battery died.
I packed up the clock and the leftover cake, and took the last train ride home.

 

[Dash man]

They had a lunch at a Thai restaurant that was nice. I did have to drive three hours to attend, but I was paid my salary and mileage. It was nice to see them one last time. I left on my own terms, so no severance.

 

[rodi]

I was ready to retire and waiting on a RIF... but it never happened. After 2 years of hoping/praying/telling my boss that I wouldn't mind being at the top of the 'list' if a RIF came along.. I gave up and gave notice. So the only 'package' I got was PTO time that I had on the books (about 8 weeks worth). The big RIF that decimated my corporate campus came a full year later and was a 1 year salary/benefits package.

I could have been sad about missing out - but by then I was so happy to not be working, that it was all good. I had many friends that got the 1 year package and turned it into a year paid sabbatical before looking for work. Only 2 had enough savings to actually retire when they got the package.

 

[LoneStarJeffe]

I applied for and was accepted into my company's early retirement offer. I was 64 when they offered it so the timing was really good. I calculated out the benefits to about two years salary. I had worked a long term there and maxed out the one-time supplemental payment based on years worked there.

I was grateful for the opportunity to leave. My plan was to work longer until my wife was closer to medicare. The package included subsidized company medical insurance. That clinched it for me.

I know it was luck of the draw. I worked in IT and older workers in larger companies usually see early retirement packages followed by a RIF. I was very lucky and have not looked back.

 

[RE2Boys]

My company, as an incentive, loosened the criteria for retirement from age 55 with 30 years service to 50 with 25 years of service. Of course, the pension calculations had a penalty for being under age 55.

Left at age 50 with 29 years of service. I have been collecting the pension for 22 years and 6 months to date.

 

[W2R]

Not exactly. My retirement was my idea, not theirs.

Management wanted to have a traditional retirement dinner for me, in a fancy restaurant, but I declined because I know the attendees had to pay for that themselves and most really couldn't afford it. Instead I persuaded them to stage a potluck in one of the conference rooms. That was a great idea! Everyone had fun and no sad faces over the expense. They called in middle management to give a speech and present me with a couple of unexpected awards.

My supervisor gave me more cash than I expected from my unused leave, about the same amount extra as Scrabbler got. I didn't know about it until several weeks after I retired, and I never got an explanation.

As was customary they sent an envelope around to everybody for cash donations. I got several hundred from that. That was a nice surprise, too.

 

[Sojourner]

I was the top "tech" employee at my MicroCorp and had been with them pretty much from the start, so I was able to negotiate a good severance deal for myself. Ended up getting about 3½ years of a monthly retainer for very limited, as-needed consulting work. The retainer money was only a fraction of my full-time salary, but it covered my medical insurance premiums and other basic costs of living pretty nicely for quite some time.

 

[Aerides]

I was ready to retire and waiting on a RIF... but it never happened.

I got lucky, as it happened. I'd started hinting to my boss that I was restless and not seeing my next opportunity in the company, but I'd be crazy to just quit given our severance package...nudge nudge wink wink.

A few months later, there was a big push to get rid of anyone not in their hub locations - which included me. It took a few months after that, but I got the package.

It was the maximum, but I knew what it would be via a well documented and published program updated every year on the internal website. Serial severance for just over a year, stayed on payroll + full benefits the whole time, plus paid for unpaid vacation and accrued portion of next year's bonus. A sweet deal, I could barely contain my glee.

 

[corn18]

I got a great big package, but I had been working with my boss and his boss to plan an exit. This was one year post merger and they needed to get rid of VPs like me. Got the standard severance, annual bonus, all my RSUs immediately vested and still have a few PSU's. All told, the package was $575k. This is what allowed me to retire.

 

[jollystomper]

I had told Megacorp I was going to retire. You choose to retire, there is no "package". Soon a project important to my executive fell apart, and my management asked me what will it take for me to stay on to help rescue the project, I said "a package would be nice". They said "done". It was the standard at the time for folks getting laid off, with a few more perks.

They then went beyond it, as two months after I retired I received a large check that was in addition to the already received severance pay. I contact my former manager, she said it was a "thank you" bonus from the executive and my management for saving the project. That was a nice surprise .

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Package??

I was given the choice of a farewell lunch or beers after work. I took the beer. Couldn’t stand those big lunches where we usually got one server for 20 people, resulting in a two hour lunch leaving an hour to make up. Of course, I wouldn’t have worried for myself, but the rest of the crew would have.