company merger

[jeaniez]

What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania

Two companies are merging. All current employees were made to fill out new applications for their current job. If they did not fill out the application, they were told once the merger was complete, that they would be severenced out. NOW..the merger is complete, and those employees still have jobs, when they expected to get serverenced out. They are now being told that they must leave on their own, with no severence. Is this legal??

 

[Beth3]

(a) An employer has no obligation to provide severance. (b) If these employees still have jobs after the merger is complete, why would the employer be interested in offering severance? Offering severance to employees who still have jobs is extremely uncommon.

 

[jeaniez]

re:

I agree it is uncommon. But these employees were told that if they did not apply for their job, that they would not HAVE a job. And now all of a sudden, the company decided not to offer severances, after specifically stating that they would, at a meeting in front of all of the employees. THAT is where the confusion is. The company did give severances to some people, in other departments. It is just this one particular department that they are now denying severances to.

 

[cbg]

Yes, it is legal.

 

[Beth3]

Whether the company is legally obligated to now provide severance to these individuals depends upon exactly what they said, which may differ from what you and others understood them to have said.