Separation Agreements - Anyone gone through this before?

Hiya, 

(Don't worry - I am going to speak with an attorney). I am in a HR issue where it seems like they are siding with the other party. Almost all the evidence is in email, and feels very clear that I am in the right - but whatever. 

I think the organization is preparing the termination (Feels like 3-4 months out). 

I believe that if things continue to move down this path - I should preemptively attempt to negotiate a  separation agreement. My priority is being able to 'keep my name on the door' while I hunt for the next job, and not have the black mark on my record. 

This is a small but very prestigious (and reputation driven) investment firm in LA. 

I know these types of 'hey this is not working, please go find a new job. Your email will work here for six more months. Let us know if we can help' arrangements happen a lot in banking. Have any of you heard details of these types of arrangements? 
Thank you for any comments. 

 
Most Helpful

I'm assuming that you don't have any contractual agreement in place here (i.e. you're not an equity partner with a partnership agreement or something similar). Generally speaking, they could let you go immediately if they want to. When you're tied up in an HR situation, they'd typically be more than happy to let you walk, which makes negotiating an exit more difficult. What level are you and what client relationships have you built? Ultimately, you have to think about your situation from the firm's perspective and think through the potential cost/benefit in play here. If you're junior with no relationships, then they're not losing much talent and they don't have to worry about clients following you, so it's easy to cut you off. If you're involved in a very messy situation that they would never want getting out (and would be hard to spin against you), then maybe you have some power to bargain with an NDA, but even that's rare and it's a risky game to play.

However, if you had any power here, you likely wouldn't be asking on WSO. 9 times out of 10, the best move would be to begin searching for a new job ASAP and getting out. Even if you "win" the HR case, you're likely to have that mark on your record for a quite a bit. The typical "hey this isn't working out" arrangements I've seen have most frequently been when someone may be a poor performer, but they've built solid personal relationships in the office. When you're an HR liability, it's a bit of a different story.

 

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