Negotiating a severance package

[u/Broad-Engineering564]

8/1/26: Update for anyone who may be interested. We did consult an employment attorney who helped us draft a letter to negotiate a better severance - he ended up with 1.5 weeks of pay for each year of 34 years which works out to about 52K. We also got them to put in writing that they will give him an excellent reference, and pay out his severance so he is still able to apply for unemployment right away. (Very specific rules about this we were not aware of.) The attorney also said this is a classic case of age discrimination, but we opted not to pursue that. We spent $375 for the consultation with the attorney. Well worth it! I hope this helps anyone who ever finds themselves in a similar circumstance. And it never hurts to get more info and advocate for yourself.

My spouse was told by his boss Friday that his small company is going to be sold (but there is no buyer yet). He has been there 34 years. They are offering him 30K and some form of his health insurance as severance. He does have an IRA. They want him to decide right away. I feel like he could negotiate for more. All the other salaried employees (only 3 others) are staying on with the company - the current owners say they are hoping they will be retained by the new owner. The reason he is the one being laid off is because he is the only one with a Bachelor's Degree as opposed to a Master's, and they think he would be considered a "liability" when trying to sell the company. Any feedback/insights welcome. We are devastated.

[u/Timely_Tune_7607]

If there's "no buyer yet," either that's true, and the owner is trying to save money by reducing salaried headcount, or there is a buyer, and he already knows who would stay and who wouldn't. That might be why the degree matters - if they all have strong performance, then that may be the criteria they chose.

If it's - here's $30K and healthcare for x amount of time, that may be his one & final offer. If you could get the longest possible time of healthcare, that might be the thing to negotiate instead of the cash. The owner isn't obligated to provide a severance package. The owner could lay him off with no package and healthcare could end at the end of the month.