Book Title:

Fired, Down-Sized, or Laid-Off: What Your Employer Doesn’t Want You to Know About How to Fight Back (Paperback)
by Alan L. Sklover

Editorial Reviews:

Book Description

All the legal facts, negotiating strategies, and coping tips anyone just dismissed from a job needs from an expert on employment law.

Job security has disappeared. Even in good times, people get the pink slip whenever cutting staff appears to be in the best interest of the company or those who run it. These days, everyone must be prepared to negotiate severance almost instantly.

Alan Sklover, an attorney with over a decade of experience handling severance negotiation for employees, provides an insider’s guide to the best approaches to getting a favorable settlement. With its wealth of information, easy-to-read style, and short chapter format, Fired, Downsized, or Laid Off will become the standard text for anyone who wants to know:

  • What do standard severance packages include
  • Tips to keep self-esteem high and stress low through severance negotiations
  • How to customize a severance package
  • When to hire an attorney and how to use their services wisely
  • How to turn job loss into an opportunity for a new career path, self-employment or early retirement

In these uncertain times, no employee will want to be without this book.

From Booklist

The profession of law apparently has become so specialized that Sklover is able to bill himself as a “severance attorney,” claiming primary ranking in the category. Regardless, earlier this year employment and labor attorney Steven Sack covered much of the same territory in a similarly titled book (Getting Fired: What to Do if You’re Fired, Downsized, Laid Off, Restructured…).

Sack also considered various forms of discrimination and the rights of employees, but Sklover focuses almost exclusively on negotiating the best severance package. Sklover describes how the negotiation process works, identifies emotional pitfalls, and tells how to work with an attorney. He explains what actually can be asked for and how to ask for it; he counters with requests the employer will make and suggests ways to respond. He advises what to do if negotiations fail and addresses “post-negotiation concerns” such as tax ability of severance benefits, eligibility for unemployment insurance, and breach of agreement. Appendixes include sample forms and letters. David Rouse

About the Author

Alan L. Sklover, esq., is the senior partner of Sklover, Himmel & Shepard, LLP. He appears as an expert on employment law on CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg Business Radio, and CNN’s interactive website, and has been quoted in The New York Times, Business Week, Money Magazine, and The Washington Post. He lives in New York City.