I have survived my second annual thinning of the herd

[Hauldren Collider]

Wait a minute.
I'm retarded.
*commits suicide*


I should get some sleep. Later folks

[Al B. Sure!]

Best high school in the nation, folks

[Hauldren Collider]

I deserve Alby's scorn, for once.

Okay, actually gonna get some rest now. Overworked for the last few days

[Asher]

Best high school in the nation, folks

Not the best. Just above the median.

[Al B. Sure!]

So yeah I just wanted to make sure HC understood that severance pay is nonexistent and, unlike Canada, not required by US law, for the majority of professions in America, at least in the at-will states. It's to employer discretion.

I saw this for PA:

http://resources.lawinfo.com/en/Legal-FAQs/labor-employment/pennsylvania/am-i-entitled-to-sick-leave-vacation-pay-seve.html

There is no Pennsylvania labor law which requires an employer to pay an employee not to work. Benefits like sick leave, vacation pay and severance pay are payments to an employee not to be at work. Therefore, an employer only has to pay these benefits if the employer has a policy to pay such benefits or a contract with you to pay these benefits. An employer must follow his/her own rules for these kinds of payments.

Honestly, this idea of a law requiring employers to pay employees for work not done is bizarre to me.

[Asher]

The PA law sounds bizarre to me.

We've got so many more protections here in Canada, it seems absurd not to have it. You guys are getting screwed.

And don't tell me it increases the cost of doing business in Canada. If it was more expensive to do business in Canada, there wouldn't be countless nearshore consulting firms.

[Al B. Sure!]

The PA law sounds bizarre to me.

We've got so many more protections here in Canada, it seems absurd not to have it. You guys are getting screwed.

And don't tell me it increases the cost of doing business in Canada. If it was more expensive to do business in Canada, there wouldn't be countless nearshore consulting firms.

Yeah but... you get paid for work. Paid FOR WORK. As in work done.

Paying people without them working is bizarre to me. I mean there's bonuses but those are advanced payments on work that will be done. This idea of paying people for work that will never be done is bizarre.

It's contrary to the entire spirit of capitalism and a work ethic.

You work. You get paid. You don't work. You're not entitled to pay.

[Asher]

Yeah but... you get paid for work. Paid FOR WORK. As in work done.

Paying people without them working is bizarre to me. I mean there's bonuses but those are advanced payments on work that will be done. This idea of paying people for work that will never be done is bizarre.

The idea is to provide a disincentive for firing perfectly good workers without cause. If paying people without them working is bizarre to you, then that's the point. If you can't fire them for cause, they should keep working.

[Asher]

It's contrary to the entire spirit of capitalism and a work ethic.

You work. You get paid. You don't work. You're not entitled to pay.

Are you equally perplexed about the concept of vacation pay?

Hell, I get 3 days off of my choosing every quarter (in addition to vacation days + personal days). I get paid fully not to work those days as well.

[Al B. Sure!]

The idea is to provide a disincentive for firing perfectly good workers without cause. If paying people without them working is bizarre to you, then that's the point. If you can't fire them for cause, they should keep working.

It's for cause... the business needs changed so fewer workers are required.

[Asher]

It's for cause... the business needs changed so fewer workers are required.

That's not cause, cause is something the EMPLOYEE does.

I don't see anything inherently wrong with protecting people who've done perfectly good jobs from getting fired through no fault of their own. It should be a very hard decision for the employer to make that call, not a trivial one.

[Al B. Sure!]

Are you equally perplexed about the concept of vacation pay?

Hell, I get 3 days off of my choosing every quarter (in addition to vacation days + personal days). I get paid fully not to work those days as well.

Vacation pay is not legally mandated in the USA. Is it in Canada?

See if this is part of a compensation package provided by the employer, yeah it makes sense. Vacation days are part of your compensation. I guess a severance package would be that same sort of implicit compensation for work that has been done distributed over the course of employment but paid out at termination.

However, there's a fine difference between employers voluntarily offering such compensation and the State mandating it. That is what is bizarre to me.

The Canadian government says companies, pay these people for not working.

[Al B. Sure!]

Look, let's take a step back...

What is pay? Pay is compensation for work, right? It's very basic. How can you not see that pay for work not done is contrary to sense?

[Al B. Sure!]

When Canadian sandwich makers get laid off from McDonalds, how much severance pay do they get?

[KrazyHorse]

5% is relatively gentle.

That's just the general Darwinian number. If things are bad they can go up to 15%...