Helpful Tips for Negotiating Your Canadian Severance Package

If you’ve been laid off or fired in Canada, you may be entitled to a severance package. However, the specific terms of the package, including its size and duration, can vary depending on factors such as your length of service, your role, and your employer’s policies.

If you’ve recently received a severance package and are unsure whether you should be angry, satisfied, or confused with the terms offered, you may find it helpful to seek legal advice on severance packages. You can also try following some of the helpful tips below:

Don’t sign the severance offer immediately.

If you’ve been given a severance package by your employer, take some time to read through it carefully and digest what it contains before signing it. Once you’ve signed, you’ve made it far more difficult to negotiate a better package, and you typically waive your right to sue the employer for wrongful dismissal or other employment-related claims. 

Seek professional help.

As touched upon earlier in this article, seeking legal advice from an employment lawyer can help you understand the severance document better (particularly if a lot of confusing jargon has been used) and whether you’re getting a good enough deal, given the circumstances.

Check your original contract or offer of employment.

Some offer letters and contracts contain terms of separation, and if they do, it’s important to check these to determine whether your employer is upholding their end of the agreement.

Know what is and isn’t negotiable.

While some aspects of a severance package may be negotiable, not all are, and it pays to get to grips with what is controlled by your company and what isn’t so that you can avoid wasting valuable negotiation time (and looking foolish!).

Consider more than just your salary.

It may be that you’ve accrued some paid time off or are due a bonus soon; severance packages are never just about your salary. You should also remember to include taxes when crunching your numbers, as severance pay is generally taxable income.

Set yourself a goal.

Once you’re ready to negotiate with your employer, try to have a lump sum in your mind that you’d be happy to accept and any other stipulations you might wish to have removed from the package or added.

Be realistic.

In most instances, employees offered severance packages are simply looking for a fair deal, not a huge payout that will set them up for life. By being realistic, knowing your rights, and only going down the discrimination route if you truly believe you have a case, you can hopefully get what you deserve.

Nobody wants to lose their job, but by seeking help from an employment lawyer on severance package advice, you can make sense of the situation, understand your rights, and put yourself in a solid position to negotiate. By conducting yourself in a professional manner and being patient throughout the whole process, you can get a deal that might make the future look a lot less bleak.