Those working one to four years may be paid 12 weeks of base pay. Employees of five or more years are eligible eight weeks of weekly base pay plus one week for every full year of service. Severance payments are taxable and subject to tax withholding requirements. Life, dependent life, accidental death and dismemberment, and long-term disability insurance coverage end at termination. Employees have to turn in their passes and employee ID cards on their last day.
Cast members face a true dilemma.
I'm told that in one case it's worth almost a year's pay to the recipient. For some, the park's anti-seniority bias is making the decision easier. The offers for these folks isn't big enough to warrant blindly jumping in, and a lot of resume buffing is going on during company time. A lot of people I talk to expect to leave, however reluctantly, in order not to lose a little something of their time at The House That Mouse Built. Seemingly in anticipation of the changes, furniture is flying at the Team Disney Anaheim building.