I am 38 and I have been working at a financial institution company for 17 years. My employer is offering me severance with a lump sum reduced to 75% or salary continuance. I am also trying to negotiate a higher severance amount as they are only offering 2 weeks per year of severance. They pulled out an employee agreement that stipulates the amount of severance in the agreement and limits it to 2 weeks per year of service. However, this agreement was signed over a year after i started my career with the company it was signed when i internally transferred to a new role. Do i still have room to negotiate my severance pay?

Hello,

Many employees have at one point or another signed an employment agreement that attempts to limit their severance entitlements. In our experience, many of those limiting clauses are unenforceable, either because, as here, they were signed after the employee started employment or because the clause is drafted in such a way that it is unenforceable.

I recommend that you speak to one of us at Samfiru Tumarkin so that we may review your employment contract and the circumstances surrounding its signing and advise you if you are entitled to more severance than what your employer is offering you.

Regards,

Lluc Cerda
Lawyer