Just found out I am losing my job

[Brat]

It is my observation that the early severance packages are MUCH better than subsequent offerings.

 

[jIMOh]

Thanks again for the great info everyone.
I like to add some info about the discrimination issue. My boss called me on my personnel cell phone which he had to get from one of my friends. He was asked why he didn't use the company phone to call me. ( I work in different building and my work number rings at both of my offices at the same time). He said he didn't want to use the company phone to my friend (co-worker). Please note! Incoming calls are taped at our company for security reasons since 1990. My boss called my cell phone (please understand he never ever has called me at home, my cell and really never even at work) and represented himself as being on the selection committee and asked me if I could retire with a package and be OK. Long story, short he used every trick to coerce me to say, put me on the list! He was saying things like our group may be going away and the severance package may be reduced. The final kicker was If you take a package they can save a younger employee. Please Note! I said put me on the list after much debate. Then he said he can't guarantee it. Well It happened and I was told my job was eliminated via a meeting with my Director and Look and Behold a younger Manager demoted was assigned to my Boss. I have Stella reviews and no issues ever and can perform everything for Method Development to Troubleshooting equipment and much, much more. I then told the Director of what was asked of me to do and that is when the stuff hit the fan. I ended up having to speak to the Department head and once I gave him all the info I had he ended up asking me if he found me a job , WOULD it Help!!! Looks like I have something to go with to the Lawyer. Next day He pretty much acted like my long lost friend and it was sickening. There is so much I didn't fill in but you can get the picture. I believe I have a case. I am looking at Lawyers right now and have until July 5 to sign my severance agreement if I do not pursue the case. Sorry for the long rant again, but my families quality of living is at stake here.
Thanks again and any help is really appreciated.
Paraman

this came up in another thread
my wife does some work in this area as an HR consultant

in general an employer cannot ask you to waive collecting unemployment in lieu of a severance, and there are "several" discrimination tests employers must do when performing layoffs (to make sure a protected class is not being targeted).

Consult an attorney.

 

[DangerMouse]

this came up in another thread
my wife does some work in this area as an HR consultant

in general an employer cannot ask you to waive collecting unemployment in lieu of a severance, and there are "several" discrimination tests employers must do when performing layoffs (to make sure a protected class is not being targeted).

Consult an attorney.

I can not believe for a moment that any company in this day and age, let alone a megacorp, would not have run their proposed layoffs thru this discrimination testing before they made any decisions. It seems to be standard practice.

Problem with taking legal action means you are always looking back. Personally I would embrace your situation as an opportunity to move forward and improve your life.

 

[SAYOC01]

Retiring

Para,
I'm with FPL,36yrs & I'm 66 ,told by my boss, heard you are retiring this yr.!Go sometime this yr.you don't have a job next yr.I was planning to go anyway.I have a great "Financial Planner"I did my homework.I'll retire with $750,000 unless I get a PKG.I'm good to go.
As far as info you gave about "if"you have a case.....go get a Lawyer.Had a Super.who KEPT DAILY RECORDS of everything he did on a job.Co.tried to fire him,he went & presented his paperwork to a Lawyer.& asked,do I have a case?Lawyer looked at all of it & said.....Mr.*** I have just one question! May "I"be your Lawyer!! Mr.*** won his case AND kept his job(biut that's another story)!LOL!
Soyoc01

 

[jayc]

My warning period ends on July 5 and then I will start to collect unemployment. I am going to look for some sort of job after the summer.

In my state you must apply for at least 2 jobs per week while on unemployment. It will probably be about $375/week minimum 26 weeks, could be up to 99 weeks.

Does your spouse work?

Roll the lump sum to an IRA at Schwab, Fidelity, Vangaurd, etc.

Work on reducing expenses. cable, phones, other monthly non-essentials.

Check what programs are available for re-training. My job was out-sourced and Square-D HR did/would not give any details about these programs. I got a letter from the state about 2 weeks after I got another job. It already sounds like a sleazy situation.

 

[jayc]

I can not believe for a moment that any company in this day and age, let alone a megacorp, would not have run their proposed layoffs thru this discrimination testing before they made any decisions. It seems to be standard practice.

Square-D out-sourced the entire North American IT department to Keane in 2004. We were all told to sit at our desks at 5:00 pm the day before Thanksgiving. We were to receive an e-mail from Keane (Not our employeer) telling us who was let go and who stayed. I was let go and got a severance. No thank yous, see you, nice knowing you, nothing from Square-D. Turns out I was one of the lucky ones. The people kept by Keane were ALL let go 6-9 months later with no severance. Moral of the story: megacorp does not imply class, intelligence or ethics.

 

[ziggy29]

Turns out I was one of the lucky ones. The people kept by Keane were ALL let go 6-9 months later with no severance. Moral of the story: megacorp does not imply class, intelligence or ethics.

This seems to be another example of what is commonly believed: when a company issues several rounds of layoffs, the folks getting axed first usually get the best severance deals.

 

[superdave]

The people kept by Keane were ALL let go 6-9 months later with no severance. Moral of the story: megacorp does not imply class, intelligence or ethics.

Small world. I saw the same thing happen over and over. Early bird gets the worm ( package );

 

[Running_Man]

I would look very carefully at what the annuity is versus the 600K payout, to insure you are not shortchanging yourself. Additionally, is there a sliding scale so that your annuity payour would increase as years pass. Many plans I have seen and I do not know Pfizer's have a scale of 50% payout at 55 years old to 100% at 65 which is a seven percent annual increase in dollars received. 600K would seem to indicate a payout at 55 of around 55 - 60 K per year, the reduction in the cash payout was the result of dropping the US treasuries as the basis for cash value of an annuity, which was one of the biggest anti-employee pieces of legislation passed in recent years and does suck and saved big corporations millions.

I am just an accountant but having seen the expenses on many lawsuits for age discriminations on layoffs, a low percentage from S&P500 companies end up resolved in favor of the severed. In many cases the people selected for layoff are selected by legal criteria and not supervisors so that anything your supervisor told you may be ruled irrelevant, that is he actually was hoping to save a job not eliminate yours. When you get to court the emotional impact on you is not testimony. With Pfizer laying off 30,000+ jobs from 2005 -2012 they would not even argue about whether you were doing a good job.

I wish you well and hope whatever decision you make works out best for you.

 

[nun]

paraman, take your layoff as an opportunity to do all those things that you put off while you were working. You have a retirement and severance package that many would envy, so I recommend that you move forward and be optimistic.

As far as the money goes, I'd roll the retirement stuff over to a Vanguard IRA and put the severance in a combo of your bank account and a Vanguard account. You'll have to decide on an asset allocation, but don't go mad over the number of funds you use to get there, stick to Vanguard Total Bond Index, Total Stock Market, International and maybe throw in some Wellesley, Emerging Markets, TIPS etc if you want to be weighted in one direction or the other. Take a look at the various "Lazy Portfolios" out there.

 

[rsingh6675]

Just Curious

Just Curious,
Did you accept the package or refused?