Hi, my name is Alex Granovsky and I’m the managing member of Granovsky & Sundaresh. We’re an employment law firm with offices in New York City and Cleveland. We specialize in negotiating severance agreements. In today’s video, I’m going to go through five tips to negotiating a better severance.
One, research is probably the most important of all the tips. Find out – if you can – what the company’s policies are and what other people at your company have received. Is there an industry standard? Do you have comparatives? Do your research beforehand. Also, do you have claims that you’re potentially waving? Any severance is an exchange whereby you’re giving up those claims for some payment of money.
Number two, prioritize your interests. What is it that’s important to you? Obviously, there’s the cash component, but there’s also benefits and your references. Maybe there’s intellectual property or a restrictive covenant like a non-compete or a non-solicit. You have to prioritize what you want before you negotiate.
Number three, communicate. In communicating with your now former employer, it is very important to set clear expectations to communicate your wants and desires and to really push that forward. You need to be organized and clear in your communication.
Four, ask questions. You might not always like what you hear, but it’s important to press and ask questions and get answers to those questions from your former employer.
And fifth, get help. There are professionals who can help you with this. Obviously, employment lawyers who specialize in severance agreements can help. You really should seek out professional help to assist you with your separation agreement. It is a legal document pursuant to which you are giving up certain rights. You really owe it to yourself and to your career to understand precisely what those are.
So I hope those helped. Our contact information is available if we could be of any service. Thanks for watching. Take care.