What happens if I decline severance?
Maybe I want to keep legal rights. severance may require waiving claims.
Maybe terms are too restrictive. noncompete or gag rules feel unfair.
Maybe i hope to negotiate. first offer seems too low....
Maybe i want clean unemployment. severance could affect benefits??????????????????????
Fu--ing, maybe I feel rushed. i do not want to sign under pressure.
@a8 you cannot sign until 15 days prior to your off payroll date
You are within your rights to decline to sign, but none of the reasons you list are really good ones except maybe how it would affect your unemployment (state based so go to your state's unemployment website to find out.
There is no negotiating the amount. They don't have to pay severance at all (except in NJ and that's less than what VZ pays).
There are no gag or non-compete clauses, just a clause about disparaging the company publicly, not recruiting VZ employees for 12 months as a vendor and not to seek contracting work with Vz for 6 months.
There is no rush. You can't sign until 15 days prior to your term date and you have 45 days after that to sign in order to get your severance, with 7 days to rescind.
By all means talk to an attorney (and pay their consulting fee if you wish), but I think you'll find the agreement pretty standard. Honestly, it's bad enough losing a job, but it's easier to walk away with a nice chunk of change to tide you over. Your choice, but don't be guided by emotion.
Don’t act on emotion. Declining severance only harms yourself and won’t punish corporate in any way. The best thing you can do is put your efforts into moving forward and leaving the past behind. The sooner you accept it and plan and act on your future the better…
You do realize that Verizon doesn’t have to give you a dime of severance right? If you decline, then you do without the severance money and benefits and try to obtain money elsewhere by filing unemployment or getting another job. If you want to spend your time, energy and money on pursuing that, go for it and post again later with an update on how it worked out for you.
@OP since there’s no e-sign link to accept I guess a lawsuit is inevitable.
Think about it. But realistically hard to sue vz