Nortel froze severance packages for laid-off employees when it filed for two weeks ago. According to published reports, those workers are now seeking more sensitivity from the company by requesting resumption of those payouts.

is reporting that 160 Canadian employees laid off by the company have drafted a memo to Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski seeking their severance packages be restored.

"For anybody that's let go, it's extremely stressful and it's a really abrupt end to your wages," the Reuters report quoted Paula Klein, a former Nortel R&D employee. "Severances are put in place to help people transition gracefully to new employment."

In Research Triangle Park, N.C., where Nortel has a substantial facility, a former employee is requesting an employment record from Nortel's human resources department as a precaution so that he can prove he worked for the company, according to the . The employee, Bill Vosburg, worked at Nortel for 26 years and is worried that his employment history may be erased after Nortel restructures, is sold, or if it liquidates and ceases to exist, the News Observer reports.

Nortel said freezing severance packages is necessary if the company is to succeed in the long term, Reuters reports.