Dan Goodman Employment Advisory

Wednesday Client Win Stories Week 5. Small world. I helped someone from LinkedIn, who happens to live in my town, double their severance from $35k to $70k. He followed my posts on LinkedIn for over a year and did not know that we lived in the same town. When he was terminated, he reached out and we worked together. It was funny to learn that we lived in the same town but came together via LinkedIn. It was a fast and smooth negotiation and wrapped up in less than 3 weeks. Every severance should be negotiated. Most employees don’t negotiate it. Either they don’t know they can, don’t know how to go about it, too traumatized, or got a new job and not looking back. As a result, employers rarely initially offer what they are willing to pay. From my perspective, usually about half of what they are willing, as was the case here with my neighbor. Every severance should be negotiated.

Success isn’t about how much money you make. It’s about how many lives you impacted and the gratitude you get from doing it. No one is going to remember how many toys you have or how fat your wallet was. They will remember how generous and thoughtful you were. How much you care and how kind you were. Your time is your most valuable asset. You can’t buy more of it. It is finite. It’s worth more and means more than your money. Invest your time in the people that are important to you, not shower them with the money you make by not spending time with them. Balance brings success and happiness.

Don’t leave a sure thing for an unknown thing, especially in this job market and economy. One bad economic report and things can change quickly. Employers are making short-term knee jerk decisions. Starting and stopping. Slashing and burning. Taking no accountability for their poor decisions and putting them fully on the backs of the employees who trusted them. Slashing jobs including people they just hired before they’ve been given a chance to fail. When you change jobs, this is a real possibility of this happening to you. You must consider this when making the decision. People rarely do. You should get at least a one-year guarantee at the new place if you are leaving a sure thing at the old place. Ask leadership, is there a scenario where you are terminated without cause before one year of employment. I suggest attempting to negotiate a severance in advance that guarantees a year of income regardless of when they let you go in that first year. If it were a possibility to even be considered for a termination in the first year, would you consider taking the job? If not, think real hard and long about making the move. I have heard of so many tragic situations of people leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table to go to a new place based on promises and assurances that never played out, in many instances, looking back, clearly never intended to. You can’t let this happen to you. You will have regret for a long time if you do. Do whatever you can to protect yourself. Fully weigh all opportunities and identify and consider worst case scenarios in assessing your choices.

Layoffs are more often a reflection of the company, not the employee. The employees are just the ones who are held accountable for it. Don’t let it get you down and sap your self-confidence. Onward and upward. A better opportunity is right around the corner.?

In a job interview, don't speak negatively about your prior employer. It looks negatively on you, even if it's true. They'll think you'll do the same thing when you leave them. Loose lips, sink ships and it can come back to bite you. Be positive. Attract people to you.

Client Wednesday Wins Week 4 AE (28, Asian/Female, Blockchain). Terminated at 7 months pregnant and 10 months of employment. Offered severance valued at $230k, a majority is vesting of tokens. After 3 weeks of negotiations, she increased her offer to $410k, including covering the remainder of her pregnancy, maternity leave, 6 months additional severance, vesting additional tokens and 12 months healthcare coverage. She planned to take the next year off and enjoy her firstborn.?

So proud of Monet for standing up and fighting back.

It is shocking what some employers try to get away with. Even sadder how often they do. Let’s not make it so easy for them. Let's make it costly for them both financially and reputationally. Let's make them think twice about doing it again.

If you work remotely, don’t assume your employer is paying your state taxes. I am shocked how many times people have reached out with a similar issue. Sharing what a nightmare it’s been to attempt to get it resolved and the lack of help or accountability their employer is providing. If you work remotely, your employer must pay taxes on your behalf to the state you live in as your primary residence. You are responsible for paying your state taxes. That is unless you are fortune to live in a state with no income taxes. Yeah AK, FL, NH, NV, SD, TN, TX, WA, and WY!! You also do not have to pay state taxes in the state that the employer is based out of. I’ve heard this one before as well. The employee works remotely and lives in a state with no income tax, the employer operates out of a state with income tax and mistakenly or not taxes the employee. Don’t assume your employer knows what they are doing or is doing the right thing. Always good to check things.?

It takes years and even decades to build up a reputation and very little time to ruin it. Employers should keep this in mind in how they treat employees in this day and age. The individual can have a loud, powerful and impactful voice.