Dive Brief:

• In a rare employer move, Intel is letting 11% of its workforce go but giving laid off U.S. workers a very good severance and health benefits package. Their health benefits will extend three months past their final payroll date of May 31, according to Fortune.
• Apart from the health insurance, each worker will each receive a minimum of six weeks pay, Intel wrote in a notice filed with the state covering mass layoffs, Fortune reports.
• Employees leaving also will receive additional severance pay based on years of service, added health insurance coverage and six months of career transition service by agreeing to a “standard release agreement,” the company posted in the notice.

Dive Insight:

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel expects to let 12,000 workers go by mid-2017 in a cost-cutting move, according to Forbes.

Those U.S. employees who sign the aforementioned release will get a choice of six months of health insurance premiums plus $9,000 or one full year of premiums, the Oregonian newspaper reported in April. Fortune reports that an Intel spokesman said the notice filing was accurate, but did not comment further.

While under COBRA provisions, employees are can keep their health insurance coverage for 18 months or more if they are laid off, employers are not required to pay for it. According to a 2014 survey from SHRM, just 13% of employers have a standard policy to fully reimburse COBRA premiums.