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Re: Job decisions, mutual commitment, and golden parachutes
Subject:Re: Job decisions, mutual commitment, and golden parachutes From:figmo -at- rahul -dot- net (Lynn Gold) To:mxd2 -at- osi -dot- com Date:Sat, 15 Apr 2000 10:35:24 -0700 (PDT)
Mark Dempsey wrote:
>
>I'm wondering what kinds of guarantees others have extorted..er, of
>course I mean *requested* from employers. I'm considering accepting a
>job that would require a move. Moving my family is not a trivial
>exercise, and I'd like to ask for some kind of "buy-out" if things don't
>work out. It's common for executives to have golden parachutes. It's
>equally common for company acquisitions to wreak havoc with mere
>employees.
Be careful when you relocate. I recommend against relocating to a place
where there would be no other jobs if you got layed off or fired. For
example, getting layed off in Silicon Valley is no big deal compared to
someplace where there are fewer tech writing jobs, for example, San Diego.
>Given that kind of uncertainty, and the difficulty of making this move,
>what should I ask for? One suggestion I've heard is a guarantee of the
>remainder of three years salary if I'm laid off during that period.
>Should I have a similar penalty (or should my options just not vest)?
Usually when you move the company pays your moving expenses and then
EXPECTS you to stick around for something like a minimum of one or two
years. If you leave the company before then, they can extract all or part
of your moving expenses -- unless THEY push you out. I had one friend who
relocated from Massachusetts to a job in San Francisco that was so awful
he literally had to not show up for work for three months before they
finally fired him (we all congratulated him upon his termination), thus
freeing him from repaying his (rather pricey) moving expenses.
In another case, a friend of mine relocated from Austin, TX to Silicon
Valley and found himself in hell after his second reorganization -- only
three months into the job. When he was given the chance to be layed off,
he jumped on it because he couldn't afford to leave and forfeit his moving
expenses.
When you negotiate your job offer, get a salary on the high side of
"acceptable" because employers often WILL lowball you if they've got a
standard two-year deal re: moving expenses and hiring bonuses. Don't just
take stock options; as you may have noticed from Friday's market, they can
often be turkeys.
