Bank of America Issues...

[briansbiceps]

I reside in Washington state. One problem I/and a few co-workers are running into is the following; Bank of America is "downsizing" in doing so many people are loosing their jobs.

My group of 10 people has been told we will not be loosing our jobs but rather "new" jobs are being found for us. We are being told that although these "new jobs" are at a lower respective level within the organization we only have 2 options. Take the job or put in our 2 weeks notice and quit.

Many of us have worked for this company for a number of years and would have quite a long severance package built up if there were to "let us go". Can a company that is getting rid of an entire group of people create lower end jobs within the company with no employee consent and side step paying their associates severns pay?

Example: (although a little extreme might get my point across)
Ken Lewis CEO of Bank of America may have a 5 million dollar severnce package if he is let go by the Bank. To avoid paying this BofA has told him that his role is going away and that he can now be a janitor. If he dosnt want that job his only option is to quit.

Can they do this?
Please PM/EMail me with any advice/laws.

-Sleepless in seattle

 

[JETX]

Many of us have worked for this company for a number of years and would have quite a long severance package built up if there were to "let us go".

How do you KNOW that you have any severance package 'built up'???

 

[Country Living]

I agree with JETX's question.

Right now you're listening to lots of rumors and too much speculation. Have a frank conversation with your HR person.

You might want to specifically (and politely) ask IF you are impacted and IF severance is a part of the downsizing and IF you are offered another position within the company and IF you decline it - would you be elgible for severance? HR may respectfully decline to answer all or part of your questions.

Personally, I'd pull out the employee handbook and see what it says (if anything.)

Some of the HR folks should wander by shortly. Let's see what they have to say. They're versed in the WARN Act since it sounds like it may apply.

 

[cbg]

Severance is not required by law in 47 out of 50 states, including Washington. In the three remaining states, it is only required in some circumstances.

The WARN Act required 60 days notice OR pay in lieu of. It does not require severance beyond that.

It is quite legal for a company to provide severance to some employees and not all, as long as who does and does not get severance is not determined by race, religion, national origin, or another factor protected by law. For example, it is very common, and 100% legal, for executives to get severance and not non-executives.

It is almost unheard of for severance to be provided to ANY employee if work is provided to them and that work is declined. It is certainly not illegal for an employer to offer a lesser position to an employee instead of paying severance.

Do you have a contract or CBA that guarantees severance? Does the company have a policy of providing severance to employees at your level? Does that policy state that it is payable even if available work is declined? If not, then I think you need to be prepared to take that lesser job. The example you give, while extreme, would be legal as long as the CEO did not have a contract that guaranteed severance.

BTW, quite apart from severance, you do realize that turning down available work can result in your being disqualified for UI too, right?

 

[commentator]

If the job you are turning down is really a lower compensation and/or skill set than what you've been doing, I wouldn't bet you'd lose your unemployment. If it's a fairly decent other job with the same employer, my best advice in these times would be to jump on it and consider yourself lucky! Incidentally, before you would file and it would affect your unemployment benefits, you must have the specific details about this job, and you must have actually been offered this job (not just "we heard we were going to be offered lesser jobs") and this would have to be ajudicated before you were able to receive your unemployment.

At no time when you are out of work through no fault of your own and not by your choice, even if you are "forced to quit," could you not file for your unemployment benefits. If the new job you were offered was significantly different from or less compensated than the job you are being removed from, you would probably be able to file for and receive unemployment. (Severance isn't my area of expertise.) In other words, if ol' Ken is offered a job as a janitor or get out, he has not been offered an equivalent or even appropriate job in a same or similar field. He would very likely be approved for unemployment benefits, though he might or might not get that severance.

But I totally agree with everyone else here. You're trying to pre-predict what may be going to happen. Check your handbook, talk to HR, and see what specifically happens before jumping to conclusions or getting it all figured out.

 

[briansbiceps]

BofA

My apologies... I should have given a little more detail...

My group is being packaged out. THis is not a rumor and I am not reading into anything. My group has been told this will be happening and they will be looking to place us in different positions to retain our employement. THe positions that 5 of my coleagues have already been assigend were of lower status however equal pay I believe was given. (I'll find that out soon and report back.)

Secondly BofA's policy is to provide 2 weeks of severns pay for each year worked at the bank. And as I said before many of us have 10+ years invested and would rather have that 20+ weeks pay and find work for a different company.

So I guess I will ask my HR department if the management over me is correct in saying that I do not have a choice but to accept the lower status position and just enter my 2 weeks notice... thus not getting any severns per their own company policy.

Please let me know of other specifics I could provide that would help in the resolution.

Thanks again, its nice to have a few other point of views!

 

[Hot Topic]

Keep in mind that severance may come with strings. You may not, for example, be allowed to say anything that the company deems negative about itself or any employee. This may seem to be a "You gotta be kidding me. Haven't they ever heard of a thing called free speech?," but it's legit.

In your case, I'd take the other job. If you were the only person involved, I'd say if you have a chance to take another job in the company, do it, but keep in mind that if they go through another round of eliminating employees, you have a target on your back.

 

[Antigone*]

My apologies... I should have given a little more detail...

My group is being packaged out. THis is not a rumor and I am not reading into anything. My group has been told this will be happening and they will be looking to place us in different positions to retain our employement. THe positions that 5 of my coleagues have already been assigend were of lower status however equal pay I believe was given. (I'll find that out soon and report back.)

Secondly BofA's policy is to provide 2 weeks of severns pay for each year worked at the bank. And as I said before many of us have 10+ years invested and would rather have that 20+ weeks pay and find work for a different company.

So I guess I will ask my HR department if the management over me is correct in saying that I do not have a choice but to accept the lower status position and just enter my 2 weeks notice... thus not getting any severns per their own company policy.

Please let me know of other specifics I could provide that would help in the resolution.

Thanks again, its nice to have a few other point of views!

I think it is great that your employer will give you that much severance IF you are packaged out; but since they have elected to find you another position within the company you aren't really being packaged out.

At the end of the day they have to do what is best for the organization and the shareholder. The company would be better served finding you a postion that needs to be filled than to give you money in your pocket.

Hey look at it this way, you don't have to stay. Jobs in the financial industry are very difficult to come by these days and the fact that they are finding you a position is admirable.

...not sure why you see it that way.