How to calculate my compensation if I was fired in the United States

In the last weeks of January 2023, technology companies such as Alphabet -the parent company of Google-, Microsoft and Vox Media have announced the massive layoff of 22,000 workers.

These measures add to the job cuts earlier in the month at Amazon, Goldman Sachs and Salesforce and threaten to spread to other sectors, so the question arises, how can you calculate a severance pay in the United States?

While in most cases companies are not legally required to pay workers or offer benefits after their employment ends, they are often motivated to do so to protect themselves from liability and to help quell any resentment by helping workers as they search for new opportunities.

HOW CAN I CALCULATE MY SEVERANCE AMOUNT IF I AM LAID OFF IN THE UNITED STATES?

The amount of compensation varies by industrythe company and the seniority of the employee, but there are some common characteristics, which we will tell you about below:

• Awards may include financial compensation, extended medical care, a portion of a bonus, accelerated stock acquisition or relocation assistance, and career guidance.
• If your job loss is part of a mass layoff, federal law requires the company to provide at least 60 days’ notice under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. In that case, employees are entitled to full pay during the notice period.
• Companies pay between one week’s salary up to four weeks for each year of employment.
• Some companies pay a bonus that is not part of the worker’s base salary, although it is not always included in severance packages.
• In some places like California, workers are legally entitled to the bonuses earned when they are fired. Other states have fewer protections.
• Many workers in the technology sector, meanwhile, They work for shares.

HOW MANY JOBS WERE CREATED IN 2022 AND 2021?

According to CNN in Spanish, in 2022 the second largest increase in employment in history was registered, with 4.5 million; while in 2021, 6.7 million jobs were created. However, this occurred just after the first year of the pandemic, when the United States came to a standstill and 9.3 million jobs were lost.