Fired CEOs face big 'golden parachutes'

Fired CEOs face big 'golden parachutes'
EE Times

SAN JOSE, Calif. — CEOs will continue to see soft landings and big “golden parachutes” if they are fired, according to a study by global career services company Lee Hecht Harrison (Boston).
The company, which analyzed publicly available CEO employment agreements from 100 Fortune 500 companies, found CEOs can expect a median of two years salary, as well as a multiple of their bonus, and health and dental continuation in the event they're dismissed. The CEOs studied had a median annual salary of $850,000 and bonus of $1.1 million.

Renee Gilson, senior vice president and managing director of Lee Hecht Harrison's Boston office, said there is a significant variation in how CEO severance agreements factor annual performance bonuses, which are the bulk of most CEOs' yearly compensation.

Generally speaking, CEOs get three times their target, average annual or prorated bonus. "Up until recently, CEOs at America's top companies held near-superstar status and the terms of their severance arrangements reflect that," Gibson said.

http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=NGGBZ0ZGLZ3CIQSNDBESKHA?articleID=174918323

On second thoughts, I'd better not.

Ahem. Carry on...

How will they feed their families?
On a serious note, I think they also qualify for unemployment benefits if fired.

will not get a pension----this after 16 years of service to the company.

Great holiday news for 50,000 people.

cut off retirement health care benefits for anyone with under 15 years seniority at the time of their "decision." Husband's time in? 14 years and 10 months. YAY! (Just to point out, his pension was hosed a lot earlier...that's old angst.)

We have saved, lived within our means, and done all the "right" financial things, but we have decided - considering inflation and the rank stupidity/greed combination fueling America these days - that we will end up working until we die, regardless. Hopefully we can find meaningful work up 'til then... :-(

I really feel sorry for all the VZ managers who are still working. I was lucky enough to have gotten out 2 years ago, with what was left of my pension and retiree medical.

For many years now VZ has been steadily chipping away at the compensation of the only employees who are without a contract, middle management. Two decades ago they began the assault on our medical benefits with the introduction of cafeteria benefits and employee copay for premiums. That attack continues to this day.

They first plundered our pensions with the 1996 conversion from a traditional defined benefits plan to a cash balance plan. Now they have terminated the pension plan, but still must honor already-accrued benefits, as required by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

In doing these things they eliminate future liabilities. This amounts to $3B over the next 10 years, just in the current outrage. Having done so, they are able to declare a profit on the corporate books, since these liabilities had already been accounted for. This is how ineffective CEOs manage to turn a profit, or appear to do so; they eat their children, so to speak. Then it's even more obscene bonuses all around to senior management for their 'performance'.

Other corporations are already slobbering over the prospect of following Verizon's lead in this termination of middle managers' pensions. Since this form of ogliopoly exists, managers have little or no options to change jobs to improve their plight.

This behavior will certainly continue. I expect them to come after my retiree medical benefits when they need another phony 'profit' to declare. Too bad they can't steal my pension - I look a lump sum instead of an annuity.

With the management pension plan effectively terminated, you might wonder what will happen to the trust fund. Accrued benefits and ongoing annuity payments will still have to be covered (hopefully), but I assure you that VZ senior management are positioning themselves to raid the trust fund. All they need is support from the corporate lap dogs in Congress, to eliminate those pesky laws that currently prohibit realization of this long-held obsession. I'm sure VZ finds it very helpful to have former VZ BOD member John Snow as our current Treasury Secretary.

All part of the attack on what's left of the working middle class, supported with enthusiasm by the repukes who are in control of our government. I could go on and on, and maybe I have already. Guess I'll just stop here.

for awarding this shit when employees who get laid-off lose their homes, transportation, life savings, etc.

Makes me so goddamn mad I'm ready to blow off Christmas.

But going through EETimes archives, I found it here: http://eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=174918323

Thanks for the lead. I'll use it on my union's BBS shortly.

pnorman

Looks like Tookie Williams went for the wrong end of the crime spectrum. He could have gotten away with murdering thousands if he had become a tobacco, soft drink, automotive or defense contractor exec. And then raked in a fortune when he got too hot to hang on to! Read all about evil corporations here:

http://www.alternet.org/story/29337/

Color me surprised. The media just NOW picks up on this? Oh, my...

Those parachutes should be outlawed. I don't mean wink and a nudge outlawed. I mean hard time. Take ten million dollars away from every overpaid CEO and the pension difficulties would disappear.