Is a lawyer needed to look at this if I am going to accept the severance? This looks to be very boilerplate and there was zero intrest in any negotiation. Has anyone been successful that has been laid off from 3M to improve the exit package, that isn't an L3 or higher?
7 replies (most recent on top)
WARN requires 60 days notice, but if a company pays for the 60 days, then that is considered the notice.
Basically a company can 'buy' their way out of WARN with at least 60 days of pay/severance after telling someone they are laid off. This is what 3M does as standard procedure.
3M Example:
A person is let go today and told they have 45 days on the payroll left. In addition they get another 4 weeks of severance. Total: 45 days as "employee" + 28 days of severance = 73 days of 'notice' for the WARN act.
I strongly agree with the other posters that unless you can make another claim (whistleblower, harassment, etc.) 3M is almost certainly not going to negotiate. I also agree with seeking a consultation with a lawyer before accepting the deal.
@zlx+1mlmnyFK, WARN only requires 6O days notice. There are no severance conditions in the WARN act.
Original poster here, thank you all for your very concise and articlated responses. You confirmed my thoughts. Our family will be okay, new opportunities will come.
There is some degree of protection in the U.S. For a layoff if this size, the WARN Act requires 60 days notice/severance.
Always remember in the US, severance is not required. The only real things to watch out for are overly restrictive non-competes or non-disparagement language. Outside of that, be happy you received anything.
Retired people leader here. Lawyers won't be able to help unless you have a truly one-off situation, like being fired because you are a whistle-blower.
Ever since the mcnerney debacle when he fired a lot of 45 and up crowd and 3M had to settle a lawsuit after he left, one thing HR is really good at is making it hard to be sued if you gamble away the chance of a severance.
It is always your right to have a legal document reviewed.
Latest I heard is that negotiations weren’t even read until after severance date of acceptance had passed. A lawyer can send a letter over on your behalf and see if they reply. Some lawyers work on contingency but you’ll need to have some solid reasoning for the negotiation and a lawyer can direct you to what reasons might be worth the attempt.
I’m sorry to hear you were impacted.