At Shea & McIntyre we have experience with severance agreements. Usually, the primary issue brought to us is how much money an employee can get. They’ll say, “My company just terminated me. They’re offering me this severance agreement, but I think I’m entitled to more. How do we get more?”
Our response usually is, “We can try to get you more.”
It all depends on each individual’s facts and circumstances as well as the circumstances under which the person was terminated.
For instance, if they were terminated as a result of a large reduction in workforce, many times the employer is reluctant to increase any amount that it would pay, because it believes it may have to increase the amount of severance pay to everybody across the board. But that is not always our experience as we have been able to frequently get more. If it’s a small reduction-in-force or an individual termination, the likelihood is much greater that we can get the person additional money.
Q: Typically, how willing are employers to agree to work out a favorable deal for the employee?
Fairly often. It has been the rare occasion that I’ve had an employer that just flat-out says, “That’s our final offer. We’re not offering anything more. If they don’t like it, tough luck.”
For the most part, we have been very successful in getting more severance for terminated employees.
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