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Human Resources vocabulary · Leaving a Company

Severance pay

Meaning in human resources, with examples

nounCommon term

In human resources, severance pay means: Money an employer pays to an employee whose job has been ended, often based on how long they worked there.

In Turkish: kıdem tazminatı, işten ayrılma tazminatı

How it is used

Common in US English; British English often says redundancy pay. A severance package may also include extended benefits or outplacement help. The rules depend on the law, the contract and company policy.

Example sentences

  1. Employees with more than five years' service will get extra severance pay.

  2. His severance pay was two weeks' salary for every year he had worked there.

Common collocations

  • severance package
  • receive severance pay
  • redundancy pay
  • pay in lieu of notice
  • redundancyThe ending of someone's employment because their job is no longer needed, for example after a restructure, a closure or a fall in work.
  • lay offTo end workers' employment because there is not enough work or money, not because of anything they did wrong. The noun is layoff.
  • terminationThe ending of an employment contract, usually by the employer, but in a wider sense for any reason, including resignation or the end of a fixed term.
  • notice periodThe amount of time an employee or employer must give between announcing that a job will end and the last day of work.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Leaving a Company

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