Most companies are 2 months and a week for every year. They stated it was going to be above market. Curious to know what that means so when the next round of layoffs happen, we know what to expect.
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Wouldn't they have to take him to court to prove a breach of contract (costing them money), prove some sort of damages in order to win a judgement, and then take him to court again to obtain a judgement to force collection/lien assets?
This is not legal advice. Please consult your attorney.
Severance means you have to basically sign an equivalent of an NDA basically. There are very specific things you cannot talk about, so be sure you understand it before signing. If you breech it, they come at you for the entire amount. Say your severance is $25k, the government takes their cut and you get about $18k. Well, if you breech that contract and they come after you, you owe $25k. Happened to someone I know from IBM. Opened mouth a little too much about IBM, he received a complaint that he was in breech and demanded the severance back. Worst part was he had nothing to stand against to fight it.
The moral of the story is, if you get laid off and sign that paperwork, know exactly what you are bound to, the length of time, and everything else.
IBM has been skirting around WARN for decades
WARN filing is required to provide at least 60 calendar days advance written notice when employers with 100 or more* full-time employees plan a workforce reduction that meet one or more of the following:
A worksite closing that will affect 50 or more employees
A mass layoff that will affect at least 50 employees and one-third of the worksite’s total workforce
500 or more employees at the single site of employment
How does this layoff not qualify for WARN? (60 day notice)
Has anyone consulted an attorney to evaluate the Severance offer from Red Hat? Read an article that gag orders for severance are illegal after Feb 2023 NLRB ruling, but wondering if IBM /RH attorneys have crafted in a way that circumvents this. Has anyone already looked into?
https://www.vmmlegal.com/publications/2023/february/employers-beware-your-employee-severance-agreeme/
If you took the money and then pulled off the gag, what would it take for them to enforce that agreement and collect any damages? Ask your attorney.
IBM's "Severance" is actually payment conditional upon signing their gag order. It's certainly not "Severance" in any means - and they don't call it that. As such (for gag order) no based on years of service or anything.
The ONLY thing nowadays they give (IBM) for years of service is subsidized COBRA.
WARN + 16 weeks for Meta and Google victims in their mass layoffs
You're gone in 30 days and get 3 months salary just like every other stiff at IBM. If Red Hatters get a dollar more than other IBMers the lawsuits will be stacking up
I think the phrase "above market" is the PR version of "take what we give you and don't complain about it." How can you complain if they've given you what they define to be "above market"?
You - "You've given me a pittance!"
HR - "Your severance is 'above market', at least according to our definition of 'above market'. "
You - "But your definition of 'market' isn't a common standard!"
HR - "It's a common standard that we agreed upon in the HR department."
Keep in mind that average includes a lot more variability than just the "good" packages you hear about in the news. So you may need to adjust expectations if thats your source. If they were proud of the package they offered, they would spell it out like IBM and all the other high profile layoffs.
The IBM HR Analytics machine analyzed open source data on the packages provided by other companies. That data calculated the average package value, and Red Hat offered $1 above that.
Ask that question during a company meeting or AMA session! Post it to memo-list. Unfortunately, many severance agreements come with express stipulations not to disclose specifics. Transparency is only a buzz word when it fits a company's self-serving narrative.
Given the vagueness of Matt's "above-market" comment with no supporting details you can probably deduce where it falls depending on how much you trust the management team and how vigorously your laid off co-workers are looking for opportunities. If you want to know if RSUs will be honored--Ask! If length of service will yield additional severance--ASK! If the "market" they compared against includes the tech giants who were transparent about their packages or included just a random supermarket in Armonk--Ask! Start an open dialog with management now so that future rounds have a stronger voice or more sway.