We should keep all informed! We should get as much for dealing with this corrupt place.
30 replies (most recent on top)
Yep. Stinks if you put in 4 years & get the same as someone with 4 weeks.
@4jn It was surprising to me that WARN effectively ran the clock down on severance. It's a favorable deal for people with shorter tenures but if you are expecting WARN plus credit for time served, the reality is disappointing. I haven't heard of a different deal for anyone let go in the last few rounds.
If you were laid off recently as and individual contributor who was here in NY between 1 to 6 years, did you get 13 weeks WARN pay and no additional weeks as severance since WARN would cover that time and more?
I'm being told that despite my many more than 6 years of service, they are counting the NY law required WARN pay period pay as 13 weeks of my total severance and only adding a few weeks on top of that of what's left. And then claiming they are giving me 2 weeks per year of service for severance. Given they have to pay the WARN pay regardless, how can they claim it's severance? And It doesn't seem equitable to people with longer tenure if everyone gets the WARN weeks and a minimum of 1 week severance to sign away the same rights as per the severance plan documentation. Anyone know/relate to what I am saying?
@cg hi just curious how did you get so many weeks if you were only at the company for three years, wouldn't that just be six weeks? Plus maybe a warm week. How did you end up with 13 weeks? Is it because of your title? Do you mind explaining please?
@g6 Tried and failed. One of the many excuses is it wouldn't be fair to the people who didn't ask. Strange that other people not asking stops anyone from being able to negotiate. Keep it professional, make your case, don't threaten. No bad consequences. They don't want to look bad by rescinding offers. You should always try to negotiate severance. They will usually say no, but you will never know until you try.
@353 No negotiation, 2 weeks per year of service and WARN pay is inclusive of that so for example
4 years
2x4 =8 weeks severance
WARN 90 Days
Can anyone answer what a manager with 4 years at the company should get? Or is it just directors that get a guaranteed minimum of weeks? Also can you negotiate anything ? Someone told me that we're able to get more days of healthcare.
@g6 I tried - I was told by HR that the package rates are set and approved by the board well ahead of any layoff rounds, so they are not able to edit severance packages individually. It didn't negatively affect my severance agreement, I still was able to accept the original offer afterwards.
@d5 No, it is 2 weeks per year of service MINUS the payroll WARN period, with a minimum of 1 week after that (or more if you were here longer) this is for individual contributors.
Has anyone successfully negotiated for a better severance package? (ie more weeks, payout instead of cobra or outplacement, etc)
If so, how?
If you tried, but failed, did it have any unintended bad consequences?
@cq Super helpful and thank you for sharing. So was it a total of two weeks for every year plus an additional nine weeks on top of that? Curious how many years you were at the company. And I am surprised about the health coverage only being 28 days. I assume you mean you have to pay in full for cobra after that 28 days? Again thanks for sharing at a hard time and best of luck in finding a new role.
@cq I was a PBE for 3 years before converting to staff. It may vary from person to person - My "freelance" time has always been included as my start date on my employment record.
@e8 Okay… and what exactly is your point?
Plenty of companies do that. I spent years working as one at the same company—it was still a temporary arrangement. I understood that reality back then, which is why I made the move away from temp, contract, freelance, PB work and pursued a FT role.
PBEs are hired specifically for projects, and once the project is complete, their work is done. They are not entitled to severance.
@d5 the 9 weeks is a portion of your severance period to my knowledge.
@dw Paramount / Viacom CBS has a long history of keeping PBES (project based employees) on for years and essentially on a full time basis without full benefits before hiring as staff.
@cq Why in the world would PBEs receive severance from Paramount? They aren't Paramount employees. They’re completely independent from the rest of us FTEs. Plus, they accepted those roles knowing they were temporary from the start. Their employment is contingent upon the completion of the project, not a permanent employment relationship.
Speaking as someone who has worked as a contractor myself.
@cq what is PBE? Thanks for sharing this
@cq - so is it paid leave notice period (9x weeks) and 2x weeks severance for every completed year? Just wondering if both of these are on top of each other or not.
I can confirm 2x weeks severance for every completed year at the VP level. My health coverage continues 28 days after the separation date which is 8/15/25, after that it's Cobra. The paid leave notice period is 9x weeks which gets them around the warn period. If you started as a long term PBE I would encourage everyone to push for them to grant your severance based on your PBE start date and not your staff start date. There have been discrepancies in this policy between different employees (some getting and some not) and people have been successful in getting HR to honor the PBE start date, especially if you tell them you know it's been done for others.
@cg did you negotiate that or just get it? I’ve been at the company for 5 years and got 16 weeks and benefits only paid for the first month! What is your title in a director.
can confirm received 14 weeks paid and will get to keep health benefits until October. Been with the company for 3 years.
warn applies when it's 50 people in NY and CA or more - the notice just isn't filed yet- IMO they usually file at end of the week
@b0 overall. There’s no warn notice that applies unfortunately.
@af is it 3-4 months on top of WARN notice or overall?
Can confirm 3-4 months for director with around 5 years
@a3 Why are you being racist towards people from North Korea.
The corporate shills are strong in these comments
@a1 Aww, how was working in North Korea before this?
@a1 insanely goofy thing to say during the 4th round of layoffs in the last year. shari is not going to fu-k you, dude.
“Corrupt place”
Then leave. Best company I’ve ever worked for