Severance Pay When Resigning: How to Walk Out The Door With More Than Your Coffee Mug

  You’ve found a better opportunity. You want to take your career in a different direction. You just can’t take it anymore and need to get out ASAP. These are a few of the many reasons people resign from their jobs, even if they don’t have a new one lined up. If you’re considering leaving …

Stock Options and Bonuses in Severance Packages Should Be More Than Afterthoughts

For many people, the icing is the best part of the cake. For many C-suite and high-level executives, the “icing” on their compensation packages – such as stock options, restricted share units (“RSUs”), bonuses and other nontraditional or speculative compensation structures – are often worth much more than the cake of their annual salary. Accordingly, …

Laid Off Over 40? You Have Unique Severance Agreement Rights

Older workers’ experience, insights, and institutional knowledge can be valuable assets to a business. All too often, however, companies see older workers as a liability, leaving more seasoned employees vulnerable to prohibited age discrimination, including wrongful termination. That’s why federal law provides older workers, who are laid off over 40, with robust protections, rights, and …

Layoffs, Downsizing, and Outsourcing… What Employees Should Know

With no end in sight to the global pandemic, many companies and especially large corporations are preparing for the new workplace to take hold and are rethinking the way they do business. Some of the changes are welcomed by the employees, for example, a flexible schedule, the ability to work from home, less travel, and …

3 Pressure Points Executives Can Use When Negotiating a Severance Package

In any negotiation, each party comes to the process with unique pressure points. As the name implies, pressure points are those factors and considerations that put pressure on a party to close a deal and, accordingly, make them more open to compromise. Executives who enter into severance negotiations with their soon-to-be-former employers often think they …

5 Issues To Consider In a Proposed Severance Package

Unexpected or unwanted career transitions can be a time of anxiety and opportunity. If you’re an executive or other high-ranking employee who finds yourself asked or forced to leave your current position, it’s important to make smart, informed decisions about how to do so. This includes careful consideration of any proposed severance package from your …

COVID-19 May Constitute a Disability Under the ADA

As we continue to grapple with COVID-19 and its everchanging variants, the EEOC has updated its guidance on determining if COVID-19 constitutes a disability under the Americans with Disabilities and the Rehabilitation Act (“ADA”). Released on December 14, 2021, the guidance states that, under certain circumstances, COVID-19 may constitute a disability under the ADA. To …

Minnesota’s Revived Law on Reasonable Accommodations

Individuals with disabilities are afforded considerable legal protection against workplace discrimination under both state and federal law. The Minnesota Human Rights Act (“MHRA”) is our state law that prohibits discrimination, harassment, and retaliation based on protected characteristics in Minnesota. In the context of individuals with disabilities, the MHRA provides that, except when based on a …

OSHA & CMS Unveil New COVID-19 Vaccination Rules – Potential Whistleblower Protections for Employees

On Thursday, November 4, 2021, both OSHA and CMS announced new vaccination requirements for private sector and healthcare workers. These rules may provide new protections for employees who experience retaliation for raising concerns when their employer is not in compliance with COVID-19 protection requirements. OSHA The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s emergency temporary standard (ETS) …

Can You Be Fired for Not Getting the COVID Vaccine?

With over half of all Americans now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, some employers have begun slowly transitioning back to working in-person. And in doing so, many of those employers have implemented vaccine mandates. As a result, and perhaps to no surprise, some employees have either quit or been fired for not getting the COVID vaccine. …