This is just awful. Of course, they will have to pay these workers unemployment benefits which would apply on St. Maarten as part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. That means 75% of their working wage for two months, and another 70% of their wages beyond that capped at 38 months. However, employees must be smart here and not sign anything that would preclude them from such benefits if they accept the $3,000 severance pay. Maybe Carol can chime in here, but these former employees should be careful before signing anything that could jeopardize collecting UM benefits for the next 9-1/2 months. This can get tricky. The $3,000 could also be set against the unemployment benefits they would be collecting. Probably a lot more to come on this.