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Comment by 300bps | Hacker News Reader

If I don’t agree to this nondisparagement clause, I will not receive my severance — in this case, the equivalent of two weeks of pay.

For two weeks pay, I would not agree to anything. For two years pay, I would consider it.

I had no idea that professionals were given such ridiculous offers and expected to sign off on them. At my last job, I was guaranteed 1 year of severance in the event of losing my job. Fortunately, it never happened. At my current job I will get a relatively modest 24 weeks severance if I lose my job. If it ever comes to that, I plan on doing what some of my former co-workers did. Refuse to sign the "release of all claims" unless they give you a year severance and history has shown they'll give it to me.

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Let me suggest with all respect and much jealousy that your situation may not be common across employeers or jurisdictions. And that many people may not have the finances or flexibility to decline two weeks pay, unless they already have another job (or lots of work).

What you are discussing as an expected normal sounds like some utopian fantasy from here in Georgia, USA, an "at-will" hiring and firing state.

Let me suggest with all respect and much jealousy that your situation may not be common across employeers or jurisdictions

I have no college degree, work in the suburbs of a second-tier Northeastern US city but I have 20 years experience in IT.

And that many people may not have the finances or flexibility to decline two weeks pay

I respectfully submit that saving for an emergency fund might be their top priority while they are gainfully employed then. My goal since I was 18 years old was to have 6 months pay in the bank and it wasn't long before I had that. Since my parents didn't have two nickels to rub together though, I didn't have much of a choice and absolutely no fall back if I got into trouble so this was kind of a necessity for me.

Also, I'm surprised that anyone in IT is afraid of losing their job. Currently I work 40 hours per week at the investment bank I work at full time and 20+ hours per week doing side programming. Honestly I could work 24 hours per day and get paid for every hour if I wanted to. There is nearly infinite work for programmers right now. Losing your job is scary, no doubt, but in reality if you are a decent programmer you don't have much to be scared of.

Agree entirely on Emergency Fund, though I'm not doing so well on the front myself. Easy credit has many of us confused on that front and it's a painful lesson.

And well, not everyone on HN (or Earth) is a fabulous developer, more's the pity :D Plenty of IT positions are cog-like, in the eyes of management and leadership, and people have to fight to get entry-level helpdesk type jobs around here.

>And that many people may not have the finances or flexibility to decline two weeks pay

2 weeks is a ridiculous severance package. If someone is desperate for 2 weeks pay, they should really work on saving up an emergency fund. It's unlikely the 2 weeks really makes a huge difference. Either they get a job immediately, or it takes awhile. If they get a job, it doesn't matter. If they don't, they are still screwed in a very short time frame.

For two weeks pay, I would not agree to anything. For two years pay, I would consider it.

I think you have it exactly right, this is an opportunity to counter-offer. Find out how many months of salary the non-disparagment clause is worth to the company.

The choice of refusing money would be nice: Unfortunately, this type of severance isn't only happening in professional circles: Hourly call center employees (I'm sure among others) are being asked to sign the same type of thing, and these are $10-$11 an hour, high turnover jobs. This situation completely changes the power balance.

No it doesn't, two weeks pay at that salary doesn't get you anything unemployment won't cover.

If you can survive the gap between getting paid and getting the unemployment, which is why most people will take it. I would do the same if I were back in the states considering the job market. Who knows when I'd find another similar paying job.

Receiving unemployment happens very quick these days, typically under two weeks.

What country, industry?

That was in the US, the call center multiple family members worked at - student loan collections.

> At my last job, I was guaranteed 1 year of severance in the event of losing my job...At my current job I will get a relatively modest 24 weeks severance if I lose my job.

In what country are you working?

I have never heard of such a severance package for a non-executive. Do you really think that your situation isn't just a fluke, and that you could replicate this package elsewhere?

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