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Advice on severance.

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Anonymous

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Advice on severance. I was recently laid off from a job I’d had for a little over a year. It had been a bumpy road and I was never able to find my footing. I was the only one in a 10,000 person company to have this role and I’m pretty sure only 2 people thought the role was appropriate (even I didn’t think it was the right thing).

Come to my lay off. All is pretty standard severance. The only thing I’d like to add is to keep my MacBook. I’d like to ask for this. My only concern is that my boss has also written me up in the last six months- all for vague things. Like “you have a gap in your plan, go figure out where”, so I was actually happy to be laid off over fired.

Is asking to keep the laptop going to be too risky? I’ve been told that the layoffs were company wide and I’m rehirable.

thanks in advance!

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  1. Anonymous

    When i had a company laptop and worked from home, they actually had the person who also collected the company car, samples, papers, etc.
    collect the laptop. It's their property.

    You can, however, use a thumb drive to save any personal or otherwise related projects to it.

  2. Anonymous

    some companies block thumb drives or only have access to use them (or a removable hard drive) with exception approvals and going through the legal approval process. I know my computer would not allow that to be done.

  3. Anonymous

    I agree. It's called Data Loss Prevention, and, depending on industry and role, these DLP modules are installed along with the security suite in some cases. It is in place to monitor and prevent data loss/theft.

    Just throwing this out there for clarification, legally, projects worked for or while on company time are not typically considered personal files, even in weak policies.

    Always best practice to keep work and personal computing separate. There shouldn't be any personal data on a company computer. This is typically more lax in smaller environments, though.

    To the other comments re: use of common storage services to exfiltrate data, I'd say first stop should be the company IT policy, as if anyone ever reads these things. It may be violation of policy, if not just blocked and flagged outright, and theft of intellectual property.

  4. Anonymous

    If it is the property of the company it has to be returned. You are not the owner and there could be proprietary items on it, no matter if you think it can be scraped clean. You shouldn't be thinking you should ask, it's not right.

  5. Anonymous

    The laptop is company property.

  6. Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist

    Why do you think you have a right to keep the company computer?

  7. Anonymous

    It’s not totally unheard of to keep the laptop! Wiped clean of course.

  8. Anonymous

    My company allows us to keep our computers upon separation. IT wipes them clean. We sometimes give a small donation to the company ($10-20) but it is not required.
    The original poster is only inquiring about the MacBook. Why would you even ask that about having a right to it???

  9. Anonymous

    Your Mac Book actually contains proprietary information that is confidential and company property.
    Most companies would rather destroy the equipment than risk it out of their control. It's a high security risk even if you never handled anything that you would consider proprietary or confidential. It's a common security practice for business in general.

    Just my two cents from experience in Legal departments over many years.

  10. Anonymous

    I agree with the other post about the computer and to add on to those comments- it is company property with company information embedded. You may have all good intentions, but if it was ever stolen and what was in the background of the computer got in the wrong hands, you do not want to be in the middle of that. Best to have a clean break. if it was a computer monitor I would say they would let you keep but probably not the computer.

  11. Anonymous

    I'm going to go differently here and the reason why is that when Airbnb laid off employees a couple years ago, they remotely wiped their laid off employees' MacBooks and allowed them to keep them.
    Other companies have occasionally done this as well though they usually don't widely publicize it.

    I think your request is largely dependent on the industry in which you've worked. It certainly does not hurt to ask! If they tell you to return it, certainly do. But your request is not unheard of, esp in Tech. Most of the laptops their employees are using are recycled anyway.

  12. Joyce Breitweiser Hall

    My husband was laid off and given his laptop as part of his severance package. It probably depends on the age of the computer. If it’s an older model, the company may not have a use for it since employees want new ones, not older, slower models.

  13. Anonymous

    Do you have personal information on the computer? If so, I would say either copy YOUR information to a thumb or cloud drive like OneDrive or Google Drive. Depending on your industry and position, companies usually do not like their electronic property leaving with their employees. This includes cell phones.

  14. Anonymous

    You can ask but, if it is a large company they likely have this in their inventory and are amortizing the costs of it's depreciation in their budget. And they have software licenses attached to the machine that are difficult to remove, they would likely want to wipe the machine 100% if they said yes. They might say no. But you sure can ask. Definitely though do make sure that any separation document includes a 2-way non-disparagement clause. Then you know that they will not speak ill of you in any fashion after your departure. I also often suggest to have them put in there language to say they will only provide dates of employment if they are queried.

  15. Anonymous

    Thanks. There is a 2-way disparagement clause and thanks for bringing that up. I’ll work on writing up that dates piece, good idea. The MacBook isn’t a huge deal, would just save me time in buying a new one. My personal pc is starting to die! It’s all about making my life easier for my job search.

  16. Anonymous

    https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/02/26/success/severance-agreements-rule-change-federal-labor-board-faq/index.html

    I would read that. New law states that you can no longer include a paragraph in severance preventing the employee from discussing or sharing their severance received or talking about their experience at the company. I can assure you that no Global Organization will talk badly about an employee. Employees are just a number.

  17. Anonymous

    I was wondering about this. I can't imagine that in a job background search they won't do anything more than just ask about the dates worked.

  18. Anonymous

    Ask for it! So many people are getting to keep laptops in this current layoff climate. More likely if you ask nicely and emphasize that you need it to look for work. Put it in writing. Can’t hurt to ask!

  19. Anonymous

    I am in HR and have always worked in Global Organizations and never once had someone ask me this. The laptop is company equipment and you should have signed electronically when onboarding that you received the laptop, will follow company policy on using the laptop for company use only and will return the equipment if/when employment is terminated by either party. You can give it a shot but I think it will not be well received. Good luck in your job search.

  20. Anonymous

    You could ask for more money to cover cost of new laptop. One thing to try to get that is often missed - any company match in 401k. This is easily forgotten about and could be a huge loss of money.

  21. Heather Saville Gupta

    You could ask if you could pay the WDV (written down value) of the laptop which will be significantly lower than purchasing a new one. But ensure you remove all company related data if this happens.

  22. Anonymous

    Keeping company property is almost always a no. Your computer could have company information on it, and taking workplace files or information is always a big NO.

  23. Anonymous

    They wiped mine remotely, this is not an issue.

  24. Anonymous

    You should ask. It’s certainly not unheard of and some companies will do this and some will not. So it would not look poorly on you for simply asking, they can say yes or no. I’m not sure who is responding on here that says it’s unheard of, I know many people who are given their laptop during larger layoffs.

  25. Anonymous

    I was just given my MacPro as part of my severance.

  26. Anonymous

    Ask. The worst they'll say is no. I've seen this requested and given more than once.

  27. Anonymous

    Ask for it…offer to buy it even..

  28. Sharon C. Kiely MD

    It sounds as though this place and you were never a fit. So why hang on to anything related to it except what you learned and won’t repeat in your future? Good luck!

  29. GirlBossanova934974

    It is highly unlikely that you are going to get this MAC notebook. Too much risk for the company as company data is involved. I would get a Best Buy credit card and head on over to Best Buy and get a new MAC notebook. You can probably get a 12-18 month same as cash offer. You will have to pay $50-$60/month and you can pay it off in 12-18 months and not pay any interest if you pay off everything in 12-18 months.

  30. Anonymous

    No to the MacBook unless it's an older model and they allow you to buy it as a donation to the company at a very low cost. My hospital allowed us to buy old (3+ yrs old) computers for $10.

    IT can wipe it clean.

    Consider yourself blessed to get severance after being there only a year!

  31. Anonymous

    Not sure what you mean about risky, but they may very likely say no because it's a company asset and has proprietary company software and data on it. If they do let you keep it they'll probably make you bring it back first so that it can be wiped, but I suspect they'll probably say no.

  32. Anonymous

    That’s a very fair request! I was able to keep my laptop after recent layoff and so were a few friends of mine (different companies) in similar situations. Ask HR (not the a*hole ex-boss) if you can keep it. Say you need it to be able to apply for other jobs. Good luck!

  33. Mingna Zou

    not sure if it’s appropriate to keep the work laptop. I was laid off from one of largest computer hardware tech companies. It depends on company policy. My boss offered me a demo laptop instead for my job search.

  34. Anonymous

    Surprised you're getting any severance for a short amount of time you were with the company, that's kind of them. I'm sure it's not much due to little tenure. You also, should not be asking for their equipment.

  35. Anonymous

    I agree. Further, it should be company policy to wipe that piece of equipment even if they were to agree.

    Additionally, OP should consider the type of data others are suggesting to copy off to flash, and whether this violates policy. In some companies, this is data theft.

  36. Anonymous

    Do people actually ask to keep company equipment? This is brand new to me.

  37. Anonymous

    People feel free to ask for anything . If they get it is another topic for discussion.

  38. Anonymous

    Yes, absolutely. My company encouraged us to keep older model laptops because they give new ones to new employees. I gave a $25 donation bit was not required to do so.

  39. Kathy

    It doesn't hurt to ask. All they can do is say no or offer an alternative. Some companies let people keep their equipment as a 'consolation ' prize. Ask away! Good luck!

  40. Anonymous

    I would definitely ask for it. If you don't ask, you won't get! You have nothing to lose.

    I worked at a small nonprofit for several years and was fired wrongfully, asked for severance and they told me to keep various items I had at home, in addition to offering money.

  41. Doris Appelbaum

    "Is asking to keep the laptop going to be too risky?"

    I am a professional career consultant; my question is this: what do you have to lose?

    Ask politely; being "re-hireable" is a fantasy.

  42. Anonymous

    Sure, you can ask. But, at least from my experience, companies do not like to do this. And in my experience, when an employee is permitted to keep the device, it is not free and clear but a predetermined cost the employee must pay.

  43. Rob Gonzalez

    It's doesn't hurt to ask. All they can do is say no. In some cases, they will sell you the laptop if they don't give it to you.

  44. Anonymous

    Working in HR, a request like this is doubtful especially since the organization would have to use their IT dept and funds to wipe the mac clean and make sure that the request doesn't compromise any data.

    To reiterate other comments, you can ask witha slim chance, but a slim chance is better than nothing. Also it's not as if you ask, they'll resend your already offered package.

  45. Doris Appelbaum

    A slim chance is better than nothing. When I was terminated (many years ago), I sued for age discrimination and won in a Federal Court after six years of legal battles.

  46. Anonymous

    Wow. But 6 years of your life fighting a legal battle? Ugh!!!

  47. Anonymous

    You can always ask, nicely of course. If there are things on the MacBook, that you want/need back them up to a flash drive so you have them. Just keep in mind that it will only work on MacBook.

  48. Pebbles

    To clarify, if you download files in, say, Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) onto a flash drive, you can use them on any computer. It doesn't have to be a Mac.

  49. Anonymous

    I had the same issue, about 1 years ago my employer was looking for ways to fire me, the made two attempts but failed both times. A year later they bought my probation and said I was not meeting targets, the real reason was I refused to be part of the corrupt methods of management, mis-using company money for own purpose. allowing co-workers to fight each other. I left, the union was as much use as a chocolate teabag, I think the rep was in on the scam. I went on to get a better job with more prospects........as they say "when one door closes, God opens another".

  50. Anonymous

    Keeping the response focused on your question, they're going to say no. It's company property, and they probably won't want to go through the trouble of scrubbing it, lest you leave with confidential information (intentionally or unintentionally). You also seem concerned about your request's impact on future opportunities with this organization, so perhaps focus on more impactful parts of the severance offer.

  51. Anonymous

    depending on job it could also be a legal hold if there are any lawsuits that could have been worked on by the OP. I know for us, if there is a legal hold - there is no way anyone other than legal is keeping the machine.

  52. Anonymous

    Absolutely ask for your laptop, but know they'll wipe it. I've been through a number of RIFs in my career; in my experience, standard practice is that for layoffs or RIF, let employees keep their laptop. For individual terminations based on performance, we've asked for laptops back.

    In that situation though, I've seen folks ask for the laptop "so they can apply for other jobs." In all reality, the cost to the company is very low and it's a pain to coordinate the return mail, cleaning and updating of the laptop to give to a new hire.

  53. Anonymous

    Thanks all! I ended up asking about it and they did say no. It’s a license for them but no harm or issue came from asking. Thanks for the conversation!

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