also called redundancy pay · severance
Money an employer must or chooses to pay when it ends your employment, the amount often set by local law based on how long you worked there.
Severance pay is money an employer hands over when it ends your job, and in many countries the amount is set by law based on how long you worked there. How generous it is swings hugely between countries: a role under strong local protections can owe a lot, while one in an at-will system can owe nothing. So the same ending can leave you cushioned or empty-handed depending on where the job legally sits.
You lose a job in a country with strong worker protections and are surprised by a payout tied to your years of service. A friend let go from a similar role in an at-will country gets nothing at all, and the gap between you comes down entirely to which country's rules governed the contract.
Statutory severance varies enormously between countries, and a job in a country with strong protections can owe far more than one in an at-will system where it can owe nothing. Expats are surprised in both directions, either by generous payouts or by being let go with nothing.
The difference is the whole point, so here is each one in a line.
Both involve being paid around the end of a job but at different points.
Garden leave keeps an employee who has resigned or been given notice away from work while still employed and paid until the notice runs out, while severance pay is money paid when the employment actually ends, often set by local law based on how long you worked.
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