ARTICLE XXVI: Severance Pay

1. Upon dismissal, an employee and the Guild shall receive a written notice from the Publisher or his agent stating the reason therefore.

2. Upon dismissal, other than for just cause or failure to maintain good standing in the Guild in the manner and to the extent permitted by law, an employee shall receive a cash severance payment equal to his/her wages for one (1) week, at the employee’s then current rate for each six (6) months or major fraction thereof that s/he has been continuously employed by the Publisher. This shall not exceed thirty-five (35) weeks, except that employees with twenty-five (25) years of service or more upon dismissal as cited above shall receive forty (40) weeks of severance pay.

3. In the event of the death of a full-time employee with less than ten (10) years of service, the Publisher shall pay his/her beneficiary, designated by the employee in writing, in advance, or his/her executor or administrator, an amount equal to the amount of severance pay to which the employee would have been entitled upon dismissal. If such full-time employee has completed at least six (6) months of continuous employment at the time of death, the Publisher shall pay an amount of severance pay of not less than four thousand dollars ($4,000.00). Full-time employees with ten (10) or more years of service shall receive the insurance coverage provided in Article XXV (Insured Benefits), Section 1, in lieu of any payment under this section.

4. If, because of an illness or injury which a physician acceptable to all parties certifies to be incapacitating, an employee terminates his employment or is terminated by the Publisher, the Publisher shall pay said employee a cash lump sum based on his length of continuous service as computed under the provisions of Section 2 of this Article.