The pledge in detail

We tell each person ourselves, the same day: one-on-one or in a small group, and on live video if they work remotely. An email can set up the meeting. It is never the notice.

Nobody finds out from a locked laptop, a dead badge or a change in the payroll app. Those changes wait until after the conversation.

We say the decision and the last day first. Then we say why, and how people were chosen. We use plain words, and a person writes the notice.

Each person leaves with a last-day sheet. It gives the final paycheck date and how it's paid, and whether unused paid time off is paid out. It also gives the day health coverage ends, who sends the COBRA notice, and who to call with questions. Our free sheet builder covers all of it. Employers can use their own document if it has the same facts and the link to Job Seeker's Union help.

If we offer severance, we hand over the written terms at the meeting, not days later. People get time to read them before anything has to be signed. Federal law already gives workers 40 and over at least 21 days to consider a release, or 45 days in a group layoff. They then get 7 days to change their mind.

Not legal advice; the linked sources are the law.

We don't contest unemployment claims from people we laid off. When the state asks us questions, we answer them truthfully.

We give a reference, or confirm employment, when someone asks.

Before the layoff, we contact our state's Rapid Response team, the public program that helps laid-off workers find new jobs and benefits. States must offer it for closures and larger layoffs, and many help with smaller ones too. If our state's team can't take a layoff our size, we list our local American Job Center instead. Either way, the contact goes on every last-day sheet.

We also offer at least one more kind of help, and the directory shows which. The choices are paid outplacement for a stated period, or an opt-in alumni list shared with recruiters and partner employers. Or managers make introductions and write LinkedIn recommendations. Or laid-off staff hear first about our open roles and get an interview if they apply.

Where we can, people keep their laptop, wiped, so they have a computer for the job search. Airbnb did this in 2020 and Dropbox in 2024. We tell people up front how we are handling any tax on its value.

Where that isn't possible, we send a prepaid return kit and allow at least 30 days. We never take unreturned equipment out of final pay or severance.

We pack personal belongings and ship them home at our cost, with tracking. Nobody has to come in under escort to collect them.

People get time to save their personal files and contacts. Pay stubs, W-2s and benefits documents stay within reach after work accounts close, and one named person answers questions for 90 days.

We tell people as early as we can. Every extra week is a week of searching with a paycheck.

If someone's last day falls between November 15 and December 31, their pay continues through January 1.