Amazon Tries To Buy Ex-Worker Loyalty

from the the-fine-line-between-being-generous-and-offering-bribes dept

Apparently, as part of their severance options, Amazon.com is offering laid off employees extra money for signing an agreement not to "disparage" the company. Union officials are telling the employees not to sign it. Amazon claims they're just being generous. It seems a little questionable that in order to partake of the generosity you need to sign an extra piece of paper.
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  • identicon
    Ed, 1 Feb 2001 @ 12:11pm

    Standard Practice, More or Less

    Any severance package I've ever been offered has come with some strings attached: that I'll assist the company (at their expense) in any legal matters arising from what I worked on, that I'll not bring any lawsuit over my termination, that I'll uphold confidentiality agreements, etc. Since the employer is generally not obligated to provide any kind of severance package, it's not unreasonable to expect a little give and take.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Ed, 1 Feb 2001 @ 6:23pm

      Re: Standard Practice, More or Less

      After reading a couple of news articles with some quotes from the laid-off workers, I have even less sympathy for them. It seems that too many people who entered this dot-com workforce felt that they were guaranteed a ticket to easy street, and even in the face of layoffs they still feel like they're owed something extra. Severance packages come with conditions -- that's standard. If you have a real grievance, don't take the package and take your chances in court instead.

      link to this | view in chronology ]


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