Has anyone been able to negotiate more money in their severance?
12 replies (most recent on top)
I separated from HPE in Oct. 2020 under the early retirement program (I live in MA). I received a severance based on my 33 years of service (digital, Compaq, HP, HPE) in addition to a 1 years cash payout equivalent to 1 years cobra coverage.
Word from people from the earlier departure dates indicated HPE would Not fight unemployment insurance so I filed and collected with a Covid kicker$.
I feel fortunate.
Then you got lucky buddy. HPE has the right to deny the claims.
@hz wrong. I filed as soon as my package ran out. I got my unemployment. you sir, are giving terrible advice.
First of all, the person below is F.O.S! I have a close friend who is a VP for a large national company who said it's almost impossible to win a wrongful termination case.
Take the money and run. Apply for unemployment as soon as you are terminated and if you're still unemployed after a few months you can collect.
Good luck!
@dp. No, you are the one giving bad advice. As part of the agreement you sign with HPE when you take the severance, you agree not to file for unemployment, and they tell you specifically they will deny unemployment claims if you do so.
To get severance, you sign a "waiver" agreement not to sue the company for any reason whatsoever. The 2016 HP/HPE age discrimination suit was settled in 2023 with peanuts paid to the few who had not signed the waiver.
Sign, take the severance money, and move on.
This is sort of a ridiculous question. Severance is really out of charity from the company. They don’t have to give you anything. You wouldn’t be in a position to negotiate.
But I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Maybe you didn’t know this. HPE and other companies like them have an expectation of you accepting their severance offer with their predetermined cash-out calculations for you. To decline or to make things complicated would be foolish. The only “bad” thing you are agreeing to is that you can’t come back for another year or two after 90 days from your termination. They’re giving you well over $10k to leave the company depending on your tenure. Take it and run. The faster you find a job afterwards, the better that $10k+ will feel in your pocket.
How exactly would you negotiate? You'd need some leverage, but you have to sign an NDA, so you effectively have none.
Maybe you could threaten to not leave unless they paid you more? Give that a try and let us know how it works out for you.
What? you take the severance and then when it runs out you apply unemployment. You are giving bad advice.
You are entitled to 6 months of unemployment insurance. You will make much more claiming the unemployment insurance over 6 months than you will from the severance. Do not take the severance, do not sign NDA.
I tried this the first time in 2001 then got nothing
No. Severance is not required by law. The company does that to reduce the shock of it. If they are offering, just take it.