I found little about negotiating #severance when I needed it, so after spending $1500 and a month working with a lawyer to negotiate mine, and ultimately walking away, I'm sharing some thoughts and what I learned. 🧵👇
#SeverancePay #SeveranceAgreement #SeveranceNegotiation
#SeverancePay #SeveranceAgreement #SeveranceNegotiation
I'm happy to empathize as I have bandwidth, but I’m not a lawyer, and my experience was in California. Here’s the list of California employment lawyers recommended to me. Avoid lawyers that also may have done work for the company that terminated your employment.
These are the California employment lawyers recommended to me: 
It's considered standard for companies to pay at least two weeks of severance pay per year worked. I heard of bigger, more financially-stable companies that generously offer one month or more of pay per year worked.
Make sure that severance pay will be paid in a single lump sum right away and that the company will not block your unemployment insurance claim. Your HR file can be legally requested (at least in California), so no need to include that in an agreement or negotiation.
Non-disclosure, confidentiality, and non-disparagement clauses in severance agreements are basically hush money bribery and should be illegal — the company was a huge part of your life for years, then you’re treated horrifically, and you have to bottle that up to pay your bills?
People can’t process if they’re silenced. #NDAs inflict more trauma on top of the impact of the layoff. Thanks to @annisms and @MicheleRSimon for speaking up about this! elle.com/culture/a38883… michelersimon.com/articles/how-b…
More and more people are negotiating the removal of silencing clauses from severance agreements, esp. in states that have lifted gag orders, like WA and CA. michelersimon.com/articles/silen… Hopefully, more states and companies will be ethical and remove them from standard agreements.
Many silencing clauses specify who you can talk to and those are usually spouses, lawyers, and financial advisors — but only if they first agree to confidentiality as well! At the very least, I’d like to see partners, family members, friends, and therapists added to that list.
These are not “amicable” agreements as claimed. I was to release the company and related persons from ANY and ALL claims, known OR UNKNOWN, FOREVER. But a later provision stated that some claims are protected (which is it?!).
You could also be asked to agree that you’ve NEVER complained about ANY wrongdoing to the company, and you haven’t ALREADY said anything about the agreement to ANY third parties. You’re seriously signing away so much, even true past actions and things you don’t know about.
“Non-disparagement” includes any statement that can be INTERPRETED as negative. My lawyer repeatedly warned me that anything could be twisted and non-disparagement is effectively full confidentiality. At the very least, make sure false and malicious statements are specified.
Many agreements include a one-way “remedies” clause that says how much the company will charge you if you don’t adhere perfectly to the agreement. $5,000 is really high. More like $500 is normal (but still objectionable).
The general language in these severance agreements makes it really hard to know what exactly might constitute a breach. There’s just no being certain that they won’t interpret something completely innocent as a breach, send you an injunction, and charge you for attorney fees.
The broadness of what you’re agreeing to for severance pay feels like they intentionally want you to worry so much that you never say a single thing, even if the long-term stress of staying silent is going to kill you. It’s very threatening.
Don’t fall for the company’s lawyers’ reassurances that something won’t be enforced — if it’s in the doc you signed, assume it’s enforceable. You could ask for the reassurances or exceptions to be made official in the agreement, but removing the problematic language is better.
Don’t be surprised if the company’s lawyers try to distract from the real problem (discrimination, for example) and weaken your argument by criticizing you and your work. Remember your contributions and stay focused on the issue.
Any severance agreement should at the very, very least include MUTUAL agreements — the company should also agree not to defame you, for example. Oh, and a lot of this thread applies to employment contracts and dispute settlements as well.
Frustratingly, my lawyer was more of a mediator than a negotiator. Do better than I did and don't feel rushed to pick a lawyer. Make sure they understand the full situation, know the ins and outs of Silenced No More laws, and plan to truly negotiate for what is important to you.
Contact lawyers and do some intake calls, which are usually free, where you answer a lot of questions and describe the situation so both of you can decide if you want to work together. It’s great if you send them a doc with all the info about the situation ahead of time.
Some lawyers charge per hour ($400+). And some lawyers have you pay a retainer upfront and take cuts (I’ve heard 30-40%) of any money awarded, and if there isn’t money awarded, you may be required to pay fees, which could be in the thousands.
With discrimination cases, you could go all the way to court, which would be public and could take years. I can’t imagine how stressful this must be. I have even more respect for people who went through this to make change for everyone, like @ekp, @IfeomaOzoma, and @FrancoiseBr.
People often ask for mediation first. @JAMSADR is popular in the San Francisco Bay Area, and they’ll go back and forth between you and the company representatives until an agreement is reached—maybe they have to do some inclusion training and pay you several thousand to millions.
Similarly, try not to feel rushed to make a decision about an agreement (though the limbo is terribly stressful). By law, companies must give you a “reasonable” amount of time to consider, usually 5-14 days for people under 40, and most companies are willing to extend if asked.
If you’re 40 or older, you must be given more time to consider a severance agreement — 21 days if it’s just you being let go or 45 days if there’s a group of you — and you have 7 days after signing to change your mind.
I recommend reading through the whole severance agreement several times and even “translating” each sentence from legalese to simple language so you’re sure you understand what’s included. Look into parts you have questions about or don’t feel comfortable with.
If you have no qualms, you can sign before the deadline, but make sure to seriously consider the options. Think about reasons to sign and reasons not to sign, assess which are most important to you, and feel out which direction is most aligned with the person you want to be.
I think it could have been really empowering for me to negotiate with a lawyer as backup, though I definitely would have needed some time to get into the right state of mind.
If you have the emotional bandwidth, you could try negotiating your severance agreement with a lawyer as backup like this:
1. CC a lawyer in an email to the company’s legal team (make sure you get this contact info before your last day!).
2. Present justifications for negotiating (discrimination or unfair treatment, issues with official documents and what you were told, the time a recruiter says you'd need to find a new job, big bills to pay, approved budget for canceled projects, the value of your work, etc.).
3. List your requests (removal of silencing clauses, fair severance pay, upcoming stock, emotional damages, a reduced material breach, your laptop, the value of an upcoming vacation, etc.). You could even share an edited Google Doc.
4. End with, “I am confident we can find a solution that works for both of us and hope we can resolve this amicably without the need for legal action.” (H/t to @DelyanneMoney and her employment law days.)
5. Hear what they have to say and make counter-offers. The sooner you can figure out what you’re willing and not willing to do, the better this process will be.
If you can’t make do without the severance pay offered, then negotiating is even more worth it so you can be as comfortable as possible agreeing to the terms.
Apply for #unemployment benefits right away, but don’t expect them to fully cover your bills or even your first week without a job upfront. And if you’re hesitant about applying, remember that your past taxes have paid for this program to help you and others in your situation.
If a hostile work environment made you quit, your situation could be considered a “constructive discharge” and you could still be eligible for unemployment benefits. Talk to a lawyer.
If you’re not currently dealing with a #layoff, do all you can to save up that #FYouMoney in a high-yield savings account just in case to tide you over while you’re negotiating severance and/or to empower you to walk away!
To the people who need this thread the most right now: my heart goes out to you. Regardless of what happens with severance, being laid off is a terrible, long roller coaster ride that you didn’t ask for. And it’s true that it takes more time than you might expect to recover.
Be gentle with yourself and your calendar. Identify your feelings, question your automatic thoughts with the @HiWoebot app, meditate with @InsightTimer, make an effort to recognize things you’re grateful for or delighted by, and talk to people you trust who can actively listen.
Journal, take ashwagandha, get regular and plentiful sleep, pack up your company swag for a while, enjoy some fresh air and your favorite foods, pet something fluffy and sweet — do whatever helps you heal, even if that means doing nothing at all. 💞
Anyone have any other tips to share?
Here's more about my own decision process, in case it's helpful for anyone:
https://twitter.com/MichelleGlauser/status/1554147701444358144
Received another Bay Area law firm as a recommendation: Kosinski + Thiagaraj — ktlawsf.com
Referring to lawyer fees:
https://twitter.com/mybluewristband/status/1554347033707683840
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