To think she’s lying? Or do companies really do this?

Yes, this happens all the time. Where I work there's a (rather ruthless) performance review process every 6 months. 2 bad ratings in a row, and generally it's a choice of going on a PIP or getting a large handout and just leaving immediately. People rarely survive a PIP, so it's less risky to take the handout and run.

I know someone who was given 6 months garden leave when she left her job in a law firm - that would have been worth considerably more than 70K! I think it's quite common if you're in a high up position as a professional.

My work 'offers' a year's salary to get 'rid' of people. Usually absence related.

It's never talked about as such.

it's so so common. I have had it twice once as the person I was working with was a bullying bitch and they couldn't fire her. and second when we were taken over and they just wanted all the old staff out and we pushed back. I got a nice few pound each time and walked in to a new job each time as soon as I could. no issues and hasn't damaged my career progression at all and it's a small world my work. in one of my old places another guy was covering for a women on maternity leave. he was loved (she was a bitch ) hit all targets he was suppse to hit and more. got on really well with teh team. the plan was to be that he would be her assistant when she came back. she came back from maternity hated the fact that the team loved him and he did so well. she was only back 2 months and he was hauled into hr given 6 months pay and a reference to leave that eve. she was such a bitch. moral was so low for a long long time after. in most cases its so hard to fire someone so easier to pay them off. in other cases if your not liked and people have power anything can happen. you have had your eyes open to the real world my dear

You won't be able to pull it off.
You don't understand settlement agreements for a start.
You don't understand why people get to this stage and how.

Try it - try what exactly?!
Your friend seemed to have legitimate issues.
What a thing to be jealous about!

I was on £48. Got £30. This was 20 years ago. So percentage wise roughly the same. Look at it as a percentage of her annual salary. That percentage of yours is what you would get. But honestly based on your salary it’s unlikely you’re doing the kind of position where this would happen.

Happens all the time.
You won't be successful so don't try it.

They didn’t pay her 2 years income 😂

I know several people who received a "golden handshake". When they were nearing retirement age. They all accepted and took early retirement.

Well yeah, it's less than a year's pay

Yes someone I worked with walked away with £70k. She really pulled a fast one.

She’s probably not feeling brilliant about it OP.

It’s nice to have a lump sum but she’ll have paid some tax on it and it will dwindle - she probably can’t afford to retire or stop work, it’s not a life changing sum. Her professional reputation might suffer and people will gossip.

I reckon she might be making light of the matter to save face.

I worked at a company many years ago where compromise agreements were the norm and some left with six figure pay offs. One ex-colleague's settlement enabled her to pay off her mortgage and completely change careers.

Very common in my company when they restructure. Happening to me right now. I'm delighted.

With the ‘embellishment’, maybe there’s an element of making light of it because it’s often not really a pleasant situation to be in. As much as the money sounds nice, there are complex feelings involved with being paid to leave somewhere, alongside from whatever the situation was to get to that stage.

Of course companies do this!

Your friend gets paid £90k, and is no doubt not a good fit with the company, so instead of having to endure her awkwardness, they're paying her off with less than 1 years salary on the agreement she goes quietly.

How long has she worked there? If over 2 years it's harder to get rid of someone unless they agree to leave.

The £30k is actually tax free. It’s uncommon for the employer to settle the tax on the balance, but if they did that in itself is a taxable benefit.

Where I was working, a guy who was always trouble (bone idle and argumentative) went on holiday for Christmas and when he was supposed to come back after New Year, he called our boss and told him to fuck off, he was going to stay in Thailand, or wherever he was.

The business paid him six months to sign an agreement to fuck off himself. I asked why they'd pay anything and they said he could come back later and say he had been having a breakdown and the business should have been more understanding.

Unbelievable.

You get it by treading a very fine line between being so bad they actually do fire you (so no misconduct or shockingly bad performance) and just being pretty lacklustre. It helps if you have a protected characteristic. Or know where the bodies are buried. In banking in the 90's it used to be pretty much the only way out.

I left with 6 months salary in lieu of my notice period (6 months notice in contract) plus £30k tax free. I agreed my reference and the statement issued to the rest of the company. Anyone who actually knew me (the office I was based in plus other friendly long term colleagues) realised that the statement was complete bullshit, but my actual boss didn’t realise it, she wrote it, I edited it but she didn’t realise it read like corporate BS! I don’t toe the corporate BS line.

Yes - it's called "hush money"

Are you being deliberately obtuse?

Yes, let's hope no-one from this totally anonymous company is reading this thread about the totally anonymous ex-employee.

A thief siphoned off hundreds of thousands from a public sector business. As the net was closing, they told an attendee at a high-level gathering "and to think that a Board-member would be involved with someone like that."
They left with a six-figure payoff and a glowing reference.