Do I need some Legal Advice about Verizon severance? Do I need an employment attorney to help with all the paperwork and focus on severance and legal terms of the severance agreement? Anyone has experience with this and if yes, what's your advice?
Has anyone had a lawyer look at their severance paperwork?
Anything to note?
I agree that it is probably a waste of money and/or time to get the document reviewed. The exception would be if you think you have a provable case of something, such as illegal retaliation, being chosen because you know something that people would rather you didn't etc. Then talking to an attorney may at least let you know if you have no chance, otherwise you might always be thinking "If only....."
Basically the package is pretty decent and the conditions aren't too horrible: giving up all possible legal rights is the main negative, but, IMO, it's extremely unlikely that most people would be able to win a case anyway.
Now some sites suggest that you might want to try to negotiate, e.g. you don't really need the outplacement service, can they cover more medical instead etc. I have no idea how successful that sort of thing would be, but wasn't worth it to me.
You didn't get 40 weeks severance...it's always been 35 cap and remaining vacation is paid separate...let's not embellish.
No need for an attorney, money wasted. Sign the paper and be glad that they offered you anything over 2 weeks pay. You are just a number. Everybody in the company is just a number. I was just a number.
I was part of a RIF in early 2015, so obviously some time has passed since then. While I did secure a non-management position and elected to stay, I came very close to accepting a severance package that would have paid my previous management-level salary for a total of 40 weeks (along with all benefits) plus my annual STI (bonus). At that point, I had just passed my 20-year mark with the company, hence the 40 weeks of severance. I have heard that packages today might be quite that generous, but an employment attorney I consulted with described my offer as a 'positive outlier', expounding that it was one of the more generous he had seen in some time. I was also advised that, from a legal perspective, Verizon had its bases extremely well covered with regard to the RIF I was part of. I have had many friends impacted by layoffs over the past few years, and the majority of them wound up better off in the long run. I chose not to leave primarily because of the benefits (including 5 weeks of vacation) and the reputation I have built over what is now 23 years and counting. Still, I despise our current culture and hold senior leadership in utter contempt. And I was part of Verizon management for two decades.
Hope this helps is some way. And please know; you are nor alone in this and will ultimately come out okay. Hang in there!