Negotiating your Rhode Island severance package is often in your best interest. If you’re offered a severance package, you already know your job is ending. So, there’s little risk involved in negotiating for better compensation.
Negotiating a severance package is easier if you know a bit about employment law. That’s because the terms of a package are sometimes complex, and it helps to know your rights as an employee. However, if you know little about the law, there are still ways to prepare for the negotiation.
Learn about your severance package
A severance package can include more than just severance pay. It depends on what your company offers in its severance packages. If you can’t negotiate more pay, you can possibly negotiate in other areas. However, you can’t do this if you don’t know what else the severance package includes.
Typical severance pay is six months to a year’s worth of income. But if you’ve accumulated unused paid sick days or vacation days, you can possibly get compensated for that time as well. Also, if your job offers temporary health benefits, you might get help paying the premiums until you find new employment.
To better understand your position, it helps to earn what you can about the severance package. Having that knowledge allows you to see areas in which you can negotiate. Once you have the information, you can make an informed decision about what to negotiate.
Request a meeting
You’ll have to request a meeting with the person who makes decisions about your severance package. Generally, the best course of action is to contact the human resources department.
You also might need to contact your manager, supervisor or other high-level employee. And for a small company, you could probably speak directly with the owner.
If you belong to a union, there’s a possibility that a union representative is in charge of negotiating severance packages. If you belong to a union, contact them first to see if they play a role in severance package negotiation.
Review and sign
Once you’ve negotiated the package, you have to review the offer. Negotiating requires compromise, and you might not get everything that you want. Review your offer carefully before you agree to sign anything.