In recent weeks, a growing number of companies in the technology field have announced mass layoffs that little by little it has begun to infect other sectors. Some of them are Alphabet, parent of Google, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft.
Although in most cases companies are not legally required to pay workers or offer benefits after their employment ends, they are often motivated to do so to protect themselves from liability and to help calm any resentment by helping workers as they search for new opportunities.
The amount of compensation received by a laid off worker varies widely by industrycompany, and employee seniority, but usually have some standard features.
Generally, severance packages may include financial compensation, extension of medical carea portion of a bonus, accelerated stock acquisition or relocation assistance, and career guidance.
If your job loss is part of a mass layoff, federal law requires the company to provide at least 60 days’ notice under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.
The employees are entitled to full payment during the notification period.
But in most other cases, companies do not have to pay severance pay.
A week’s salary per year of service is on the low end of what a company should offer, whereas four weeks for each year of employment It is considered generous.
For its part, a bonus that is not part of the worker’s base salary it can also be very valuablebut it is not always included in severance packages.
In some places like California, workers are legally entitled to the bonuses earned when they are fired. Other states have fewer protections.
Because tech workers’ compensation can be complex, their severance packages are too.
From small tech start-ups to giants like Google, a company’s stock can be more valuable to a worker than salary.
Many tech workers they really work for stock. This is how most people who work for tech companies make money.
One example is Google, when it announced earlier this month that it was laying off 12,000 employees, CEO Sundar Pichai told American workers they would be paid during the 60-day notice period required by the WARN Act.
Workers earn a minimum of 16 weeks salary, plus two weeks for each additional year at Google, as well as an accelerated stock award. The company said it would also pay workers’ 2022 bonuses and unused vacation days.
It also said it is extending workers’ health care benefits and offering job placement services for six months.
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Source: La Opinion
