The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday edition that forget the old playbook where employers thought they could offer low severance because employees could quickly find a new job. Guest columnists Howard Levitt and Candice Malan write that with a 7-per-cent unemployment rate, and the fact that it now takes almost half a year to find a new job, the rules of the game have changed fundamentally. Many think severance is a simple math equation: take your years of service, multiply by some number and -- presto! That is your payout. The real game is governed by common law severance. This is where a judge looks at your unique situation and decides how much you should receive to find a comparable new job. When unemployment was low, a judge might assume that you could land on your feet quickly. But now, with 1.6 million people fighting for scraps and job hunts dragging on for nearly six months, your "re-employability" just plummeted. That means a judge will almost certainly award you a longer notice period. TD Bank just announced 2,000 job cuts. The Canada Revenue Agency just slashed more than 6,600 positions, and big employers in tech, telecom and manufacturing are cutting jobs: More workers are competing for fewer jobs.