There’s an inside joke among lawyers that you basically have to set your workplace on fire before your employer has cause to fire you - and, even then, there’s no certainty that may happen! The point being that, in this day and age, employment law for most white-collar workers is quite employee friendly. However, because of the feelings of inadequacy and rejection most terminated employees feel (regardless of whether such dismissal is with or without cause), this group of employees tends to feel they have no leverage when it comes to cutting a good deal upon dismissal (now I am taking about being dismissed as part of a larger slow-down in business). What’s the worse that happens if you negotiate your exit? They can fire you? They already did.

Most quasi-progressive to progressive employers want to appear to be humane in dismissing employees. There’s also a business rationale as well; if you land on your feet because of how your former employer treated you, you may have cause to refer them business sometime down the line. There’s always a few things you can do if you think you may be laid off or just been told you have been laid off:

Negotiate a deal before they swing the axe

If your employer is not doing great, and you have no reason to believe your job or department will be around as part of a down-sizing or you simply hate your job, negotiate your exit before they do it for you. Because a standard severance package has not been set yet, those who get to human resources first may be able to negotiate a customized severance package which is a little out of the box in its thinking (they pay for re-training as opposed to giving you conventional working notice, they give you a lump sum of money, they structure your exit to maximize tax savings etc).

I interned for the provincial government during the 1990’s when a third of the bureaucrats got axed. Those who voluntarily exited before they announced massive lay-offs tended to get better deals since you are not a number at that point but an individual who may be able to personalize their severance package.

Become a contractor

Related to the above point. To avoid the axe, volunteer to convert yourself from an employee to a contractor and save your ex-employer paying your employee benefits (a hidden costs employers obsess over). Again, do this before the axe comes down. Suitable more for industries where the labor market is very fluid (computer programmers comes to mind) rather than your traditional jobs (accountants, lawyers etc). This will allow you to make some income as a contractor while you try to figure out what to do next.

Do not sign a release until you see a lawyer- and ask them to pay for it

Most employers will present you a severance package and ask you to sign a legal release. Don’t sign it until you have reviewed it with a lawyer and ask your employer to pay for an hour of a lawyer’s time. Employer’s hate getting sued over employee grievances- lots of dirty laundry gets aired about the boss, the work-place and the powers that be. It becomes a public mud slinging contest. An employer would much rather pay a few hundred dollars to give you piece of mind than engage in tens of thousands of dollars in litigation. Typically given to middle management and up assuming you are not part of a massive layoff since a lawyer’s review basically consists of checking to see whether your severance is industry standard. If you are part of a massive layoff and are given the same package as everyone else, you don’t have that much leverage.

Ask what everyone else is getting

This is one of those socially awkward situations but if you are getting less than everyone else, there may be grounds to negotiate for more. If everyone got 2 weeks severance for 1 years of service and you only get 1, ask why you are being treated differently. Different in severance, where the different is less, is not good and grounds for some negotiations.

Employers get away with this because the natural human reaction is to isolate yourself once you have been rejected and not try to band together and compare notes. Think about being dumped; lot of people withdraw and lick their wounds. In this analogy, I am advocating calling all their old ex’s and comparing notes to make sure your dumping wasn’t worse than anyone else’s.

The little things to ask for to help you land on your feet

The goal after being laid off is to find a new job. If you are a real go-getter and want or need a new job immediately, there are a few things to ask for to help you with that goal:

• The obvious one is to obtain a letter of reference. Try to obtain 2 or 3. You never know if your boss is next in line. If your boss is lazy and asks you to write it for her, always remember to write the letter outlining a challenge at work, how you solved it and the result. Be specific and cite examples. It makes the letter sound less generic.
• Ask that they keep your voice-mail and email up for the length of your severance. It looks like you are still employed that way and employers like hiring employed people. Come to an agreement on what you can and cannot use those accounts for.
• Make sure that they extend your benefits for the length of the severance. Having access to health care or the gym (assuming it is not in your ex-employer’s premise) are always good things to have around during trying times.
• Ask human resources to give you a list of resuming writing centers and outplacement services if they don’t have one on hand.

These are tough concessions to negotiate because they are small in scope but a pain to administer so there’s a lot of resistance not from a legal/cost perspective but from a sheer laziness angle.

Hope that helps. Anyone care to share other tips?