Severance Package Question

[jams]

My wife's company is consolidating and moving to Chicago about a year from now. We will most likely stay in NJ and take about a years worth of severance(one monty for every year)

Can you collect unemployment during or after your severance package?

Thanks!

[Got the Bug]

Jams

In most cases, you can collect unemployment benefits if you receive a severance package. In California, you can normally file for unemployment benefits after the final separation date from the company (i.e. you are no longer drawing a paycheck).

Probably best to check with your wife's employer.

[trularin]

In Michigan, you can receive unemployment AFTER the severance runs out.

Hope they write her one big check. Then she can draw unemployment the day after you get the check.

Most companies drag it out so they do not have to cover the "unemployment insurance" catch.

Her best bet is to get them to give her one big check oooorrrrrr take the checks as they come in and get another job ASAP.

[4RE KLR]

Wait a second here guys......

That depends of the terms of the severance. I have seen many severance packages where the parting employee forfeited any additional rights to any additional benefits, including COBRA ins, and or any other earned retirement benefits, and earned but unused time off pay. (unused vacation or sick days)

I have seen wording in them that says the parting employee may not use the company for a referance or show them as a past employer to any new potential employers. Or may not contact any remaining employees with the company and cannot even talk to anyone about the company or the departure unless ordered to do so by a judge in a court of law.

See if you can get a copy of the package and TAKE IT TO AN ATTORNEY. I think you may just find that you may be signing away everything. Severance package wording sometimes gets "wordy".


If you heed anything from what you read remember this....
"The big words giveth, and the little words taketh away"





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[Bobcat]

I`ll second what Steve said . Some years ago , my company went through some reductions/buyouts . The people involved were told to come to ...... on a certain date and no real reason was given . When they all showed up , HR came in and said here is your buyout package and if you don`t sign it now , we take everything off the table and you are screwed ... in so many words . One really creative guy , who thought well under pressure ... and was a friend of mine , signed the package .... and then added the words " signed under duress " and dated it . HR went ballistic , but there was nothing they could do . He had consulted a lawyer BEFORE he went to the meeting . He was the only one who made out on the deal .
See an Attorney !

[trularin]

The question is about unemployment benifits.

NOT company related bennies.

When you report to the state, you will declair you are NOT receiving moneys from...then there is a list. They also ask if you are going to school and blah, blah, blah.

The best thing that can happen is if the company cuts all ties and severs you with a big check. Actually the very best thing to do it retire, but that is not an option here.

Tell you what, call the state and ask. Each state is different.

[jams]

Thanks for all of the good info guys. It gave me some good insight to move forward. I will check with the state and also find out if they will write a big check in lieu of monthly checks.

[Gordon Claunch]

I am going through this right now...It Sucks.

I am getting weekly severance checks and I am also able to draw unemployment here in California, but the Company also deducts the $450.00 weekly unemployment from my severance check!!

Need job will travel!!!

[Fred Douglass]

..ultimately come from some other person's wallet......

[Gordon Claunch]

yeah, I figure it came from mine after 23 years of working there.

[Jamo]

interesting thread

[Ron61]

Gordon,

I talked to some of my friends who used to work for the local telephone company. It seems they had two options on the buy out or severance pay issue. Either take it in one lump sum and be done with it or draw it out over a period of time. From what they tell me I believe the ones that took the lump sum payment came out ahead. Anything the company deducts from the severance checks due to the person drawing unemployment is lost forever. Or so they tell me.

Ron

[65LA]

The unemployment laws in your state will determine whether you can collect unemployment in conjunction with receiving a severance settlement. Signing a severance agreement - generally there is language in the document that stipulates, that by signing, you are agreeing that you will not file a class action suit against the employer.

Companies that offer installment payments - might also offer the ability to keep the health benefits in tact for the duration of the payment schedule - which can be a positive.

Remember -- a company is not obligated to give severances to their employees - (unless they have some sort of union labor contract that stipulates such).

[trularin]

Gordon, you may be hurting your overall picture in that, most states limit the unemployement checks.

If you are getting benifits and your severance, you are loosing time on the clock.

If I may:

You get a severance, then they deduct UB ( Unemployment Benifits ). Let us say that the state will only allow 26 weeks of UB. Each week you use both, you get closer to the 26th week. Since they are deducting the UB from your severance, you get the same cash as if you were NOT getting UBs.

May I suggest you stop the UBs if you can and wait until your severacen runs out. Then you will have whatever you did not use to carry you further.

Just a suggestion.

[Wes Tausend]

Originally Posted by jams

My wife's company is consolidating and moving to Chicago about a year from now. We will most likely stay in NJ and take about a years worth of severance(one monty for every year)

Can you collect unemployment during or after your severance package?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Gordon Claunch

yeah, I figure it came from mine after 23 years of working there.

Which is why one should always take the full monty if possible.

Geez, I'm sorry, but the darn thing was begging to be mentioned and I couldn't stop re-reading the thread in case there's something I'll really need to know.

Wes

...

[VRM]

I got whacked last Feb. They paid my salary, medical, and 401K match right up to the end of March, and then gave me a lump sum cheque for my severance which included 2 months to cover costs for COBRA (the medical - not the car, unfortunately). They also paid my unused vacation. I was able to apply for and collect unemployment right away right after that separation date at the end of March.
The MA unemployment people did ask if I had any severance package, but it did not prevent me from getting unemployment. People from NH who also got whacked were able to receive full unemployment cheques. I understand that people in CA got the same, but they also had to be paid for any personal time; my company gave us vacation, personal, and sick time. Nobody got paid for sick time, and I don't think that any state has laws saying that sick time has to be paid out.

I do not know if it is true or not, but I have heard that unemployment benefits have been extended to last up to 57 weeks. This may vary from state to state as well. And don't forget that unemployment benefits are usually taxable. People who collect will have to pay income tax on those benefits.

Freddie,
My employers have been paying unemployment tax on my salary for many years - the three weeks of unemployment pay I got were paid for many years ago, so whose wallet are you concerned about? The world has changed a bit from when you were working (teachers union - tenure?). Company and employee loyalty is practically non-existent.

Steve

[Fred Douglass]

.....paying into RETIREMENT and/or social(ist) SECURITY.......NOT (repeat NOT) "unemployment"....which supplied those out of work.

I'm sure there's an historic explanation for everything.....but "unemployment" always seemed to be drawn from a general public pool.

It doesn't bother me.....I'm old-fashioned and genetically anti-FDR, anyway. I've never collected any "benefits" other than retirement funds INTO WHICH I'VE PAID. It seems a federal (or state) unemployment fund----whether "paid" by an employer via taxes or not still seems different from dipping into one's OWN retirement.

Betcha that math still applies.....condescending/scolding "corrections" aside.

I am confident this response will meet with more of the above. Nonetheless, I trust my sources as to the origins and ethics of unemployment "benefits".....

Chow,

[Gordon Claunch]

I had no choice in the matter, figured I was lucky to get anything out of a Bankrupt company, we would have all rather had a lump sum.

I hope to have a job sooner than later, I don't like this at all, but Bakersfield isn't that huge of a town so it takes a little time, especially in this economy, I transferred to Houston 4 years ago, I am not going to make a mistake like that again.

[VRM]

Originally Posted by Fred Douglass

.....paying into RETIREMENT and/or social(ist) SECURITY.......NOT (repeat NOT) "unemployment"....which supplied those out of work.

I'm sure there's an historic explanation for everything.....but "unemployment" always seemed to be drawn from a general public pool.

It doesn't bother me.....I'm old-fashioned and genetically anti-FDR, anyway. I've never collected any "benefits" other than retirement funds INTO WHICH I'VE PAID. It seems a federal (or state) unemployment fund----whether "paid" by an employer via taxes or not still seems different from dipping into one's OWN retirement.

Betcha that math still applies.....condescending/scolding "corrections" aside.

I am confident this response will meet with more of the above. Nonetheless, I trust my sources as to the origins and ethics of unemployment "benefits".....

Chow,

Freddie,
I'm glad you never got laid off - as I said things were a bit different 'back in your day'. Layoffs are a lot more frequent these days; Out of the last three jobs I was at I know of maybe 3-4 people who have never been laid off.

Unemployment is not drawn from a general pool. There is a specific fund that claims in MA are drawn from. That fund is driven by a portion of the wage taxes, and that tax is paid by my employer and is a direct percentage of my paycheck. Most states have something similar. The one in MA is in a bit of trouble right now, but is still not as bad as those in many other states.

I don't know what you find wrong with it ethically - it is a benefit of working, just like SS. The amount I can get paid per week is a direct reflection of how much I made, though it is capped.

So do you think that the 1930s alternatives to unemployment benefits are better?

Still, I would rather they change the way it is paid so that people are encouraged to find jobs rather than just sucking it up. Perhaps 2-3 months of full benefits, but then they would gradually reduce it by x amount per month or week. Though I think many people are going to be out of work for a long time these days.

[jams]

Originally Posted by Wes Tausend

Which is why one should always take the full monty if possible.

Geez, I'm sorry, but the darn thing was begging to be mentioned and I couldn't stop re-reading the thread in case there's something I'll really need to know.

Wes

...

I am always good for a typo!!!! Other times I am just an idiot!