Severance Negotiation

[Closet_Gamer]

I didn't realize you were that young (44). Assuming you are not yet retiring and your career network will be valuable to you in the future, would say that if there isn't much left to be gained, drop it.

I agree with this. If you've gotten most of the meat off the bone, don't wrestle over the last bits. Better to have people think fondly of you as you walk out the door than be thinking (in the words of an HR exec I once worked with):

"Take the money but don't ever darken our door again."

In that particular instance, said employee fought over everything on the way out, their master plan didn't work out and they did darken our door again.

For about 5 seconds.

Always keep your options open if you can.

 

[brett]

In my experience, severance agreements are NOT managed by line managers.

At the three megacorps where I worked this was strictly a very confidential HR and Legal function.

Indeed, managers were never made aware of the final agreements. There was always an employee NDA on the agreement. It was confidential.

More importantly, megacorps absolutely did not want details of any enhanced/negotiated sev. packages leaking out to the employee population.

I had absolutely NO insight into the sev. agreements that may or many not have been negotiated by any direct or non direct reports. I was aware very generally of what the guideposts were...that was the extent of it. At megacorp and within other megacorps in my industry.

If I was asked to provide a reference for a former employee to a third party the issue of any negotiated severance package never came into consideration. From this perspective there was never a downside to an former employee or colleague who chose to go down this path.

 

[Route246]

Basically, agree with the sentiment below. It is about the leverage you have.

I took a very good package 7 years ago. It was so good and so generous I had to pinch myself. As a high producer with stellar reviews and plenty of leverage the new regime was purging to make space for their crew and I had no wish to be a part of that crew, additionally, I had been requesting a package outwardly and always was rebuked by HR who said if anyone asks for one they specifically will never get one (i.e. the person probably was good and had other options, anyway) as I was FI at that time. Within a few hours of securing the package I made a phone call to an ex-colleague and was given a verbal offer on that call for my current role which many people have asked me why I'm still working at my age and with substantial FI. It has been a slow transition but I now understand what leverage is and it is a comfortable feeling when you're doing something you enjoy while making a nice wage and receiving an amount of self-satisfaction of professional achievement in the process.

Nothing you could negotiate is going to change your life. Shake hands and get going on your new life.

My thought as well.

Exactly my thoughts. My MC had a published severance schedule that was shared on our internal site, which made things very easy. It was generous, but non-negotiable as far as I knew. Either way, I was very happy when I got it, and didn't even think to ask for more.

Forward!

If it were me I would not look kindly at a second bite of the apple.

 

[brett]

I received a severance package.

I knew there was more money on the table.

I engaged a lawyer to negotiate on my behalf. He was referred to me by industry colleagues. The amount of the severance and the terms, were enhanced substantially.

What changed? The package was based on monthly salary. That monthly number was negotiated to include the average of bonuses paid over the prior three years. 30% higher monthly base number.

The number of months of severance were increased by 40 percent. Benefits were provided for the negotiated period of severance.

The negotiated months of severance were credited as service to my DB plan. That revised service years number put me into a better category for pension benefits and meant that I was deemed to have been retired. Deemed retirement meant that all outstanding stock option expiration dates were extended two years AFTER by those months of severance vs expiring on termination.

The severance payout was negotiated to be paid out over several months but across two calendar years so as to limit my tax exposure.

The process took two months. At the very end my lawyer managed to include the amount of his fee in the settlement.

My experience with megacorps indicates that the jurisdiction in which you live and court past court settlements in severance cases make a significant difference in the severance package that can be negotiated. How does one decide? I do not know than if you have had some degree feedback from those in a similar situation who have gone through the process in your specific jurisdiction.