No severance offered after position eliminated

My position was eliminated due to budget restructuring. My letter of termination stated it was a company decision and was through no fault of my own. I was told my pay and position effectively ended right there. No severance package was offered nor a two week notice of resignation. They said i would qualify for unemployment benefits. I was not awarded any PTO time for 2017 as i was set to have 80 hours.. only the 29 hours left over from 2016. I went to pick up my check on friday and they failed to pay me for the week after Christmas. Been told they are working on it but still havent received it. While UE is nice but I have a business set up to operate a travel baseball team...in otherwords, unless that is dissolved then i wont qualify for UE. When people would give 2 weeks notice we would have them resign so company didnt have to pay UE. Why werent we given 2 weeks as if we put in our notice... a lot of this just seems wrong....they also said health coverage good until jan 31st but they eliminated that same day as well... so now have to get that reinstated....thoughts????

1 answer  |  asked Jan 16, 2017 3:34 PM [EST]  |  applies to New York

Answers (1)

V Jonas Urba
By law they have to pay you for all of the work they permitted you to suffer. The week after Christmas will almost certainly be paid or bad things will happen to them.

They have to provide you notice of how you elect COBRA insurance (you essentially pay what your employer paid plus 2% for the same coverage you had for up to at least 18 months if you elect to go that long) if you choose to continue it.

Employers do not have to provide notice nor severance nor accrued leave time unless they promised to do so by contract (Unions and civil servants usually recover such benefits but every once in a while a private employer makes a mistake and promises a payout in a handbook or other document which employees rely upon).

It's unclear whether your own business is making money now and how much? You are correct that reporting all of your earnings to DOL is mandatory!

However you may still be entitled to short term UI benefits. Let them crank the numbers for you. Without misconduct on your part DOL may award you UI benefits until you no longer qualify.

You may have been discriminated? A labor and employment lawyer would spend time taking a closer look? Did you or a family member suffer with a serious health condition? Taking time off work? Seeing doctors? Older? Minority or other protected group? Any one or more of these could lead to a discrimination demand or charge(s) if pursued skillfully and timely (usually no later than 300 days after fired).

Good luck and a better 2017 to you.

posted by V Jonas Urba  |  Jan 16, 2017 4:55 PM [EST]

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