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Let me suggest with all respect and much jealousy that your situation may not be common across employeers or jurisdictions. And that many people may not have th

Let me suggest with all respect and much jealousy that your situation may not be common across employeers or jurisdictions. And that many people may not have the finances or flexibility to decline two weeks pay, unless they already have another job (or lots of work). What you are discussing as an expected normal sounds like some utopian fantasy from here in Georgia, USA, an "at-will" hiring and firing state.

300bps 13y ago
Let me suggest with all respect and much jealousy that your situation may not be common across employeers or jurisdictions I have no college degree, work in the suburbs of a second-tier Northeastern US city but I have 20 years experience in IT. And that many people may not have the finances or flexibility to decline two weeks pay I respectfully submit that saving for an emergency fund might be their top priority while they are gainfully employed then. My goal since I was 18 years old was to have 6 months pay in the bank and it wasn't long before I had that. Since my parents didn't have two nickels to rub together though, I didn't have much of a choice and absolutely no fall back if I got into trouble so this was kind of a necessity for me. Also, I'm surprised that anyone in IT is afraid of losing their job. Currently I work 40 hours per week at the investment bank I work at full time and 20+ hours per week doing side programming. Honestly I could work 24 hours per day and get paid for every hour if I wanted to. There is nearly infinite work for programmers right now. Losing your job is scary, no doubt, but in reality if you are a decent programmer you don't have much to be scared of.
- adricnet 13y ago
  Agree entirely on Emergency Fund, though I'm not doing so well on the front myself. Easy credit has many of us confused on that front and it's a painful lesson. And well, not everyone on HN (or Earth) is a fabulous developer, more's the pity :D Plenty of IT positions are cog-like, in the eyes of management and leadership, and people have to fight to get entry-level helpdesk type jobs around here.
clarky07 13y ago
>And that many people may not have the finances or flexibility to decline two weeks pay 2 weeks is a ridiculous severance package. If someone is desperate for 2 weeks pay, they should really work on saving up an emergency fund. It's unlikely the 2 weeks really makes a huge difference. Either they get a job immediately, or it takes awhile. If they get a job, it doesn't matter. If they don't, they are still screwed in a very short time frame.

300bps 13y ago

Let me suggest with all respect and much jealousy that your situation may not be common across employeers or jurisdictions I have no college degree, work in the suburbs of a second-tier Northeastern US city but I have 20 years experience in IT. And that many people may not have the finances or flexibility to decline two weeks pay I respectfully submit that saving for an emergency fund might be their top priority while they are gainfully employed then. My goal since I was 18 years old was to have 6 months pay in the bank and it wasn't long before I had that. Since my parents didn't have two nickels to rub together though, I didn't have much of a choice and absolutely no fall back if I got into trouble so this was kind of a necessity for me. Also, I'm surprised that anyone in IT is afraid of losing their job. Currently I work 40 hours per week at the investment bank I work at full time and 20+ hours per week doing side programming. Honestly I could work 24 hours per day and get paid for every hour if I wanted to. There is nearly infinite work for programmers right now. Losing your job is scary, no doubt, but in reality if you are a decent programmer you don't have much to be scared of.

adricnet 13y ago
Agree entirely on Emergency Fund, though I'm not doing so well on the front myself. Easy credit has many of us confused on that front and it's a painful lesson. And well, not everyone on HN (or Earth) is a fabulous developer, more's the pity :D Plenty of IT positions are cog-like, in the eyes of management and leadership, and people have to fight to get entry-level helpdesk type jobs around here.

clarky07 13y ago

>And that many people may not have the finances or flexibility to decline two weeks pay 2 weeks is a ridiculous severance package. If someone is desperate for 2 weeks pay, they should really work on saving up an emergency fund. It's unlikely the 2 weeks really makes a huge difference. Either they get a job immediately, or it takes awhile. If they get a job, it doesn't matter. If they don't, they are still screwed in a very short time frame.