Process of resigning, offered a layoff, then denied layoff

[damian]

What is the name of your state? NY but company located in NJ
I know the post is a little long and I promise this will never happen again.
I informed my manager that the one resume i sent out, prior to the layoff's in January, was accepted and I was giving my 2 week notice. He responded "So you want to be laid off?" I said, "That would be great." He informed me, he was instructed an hour before, to layoff one person and proceeded to show me his book with it in writing. He also informed me he will put me in for the layoff and that I just saved someone else since Iwas not considered for this layoff at all.
My manager instructed me to let HR know I was leaving in writing which I did. I emailed my manager to inform HR that I took a voluntary layoff. He responded in the email to HR and myself, "Correct me if I'm wrong, you came to me with the intention of giving me your notice." To say the least, the other side of his face was just shown. The severance is 2 weeks per year of employment. This is a constant with the mass layoffs I have survived in almost 3 years of employment. Since I have not made a full 3 years (3 months shy) I receive 4 weeks which would be $4846.

1) Is it worth to pursue the 4800 or mark it up as experience?

2) 2 more short questions, I have 3 Personal days plus 100 hours of vacation time. I finished a college class in 4/25/2002, and signed papers that I am locked into them for 12 months. They stated that they did not pay the school until May so that is when it would start. Do they have the right to take the full amount($1200) out of my vacation pay, can it be prorated or are they required to send me a bill?

3) Final question (Thank you soooo much for your patience
). The 3 personal days left, I have 4 days of employment left (Wed-Sat nights). Could I be denied those if I request to take them or should I just call in sick? I have 2 weeks sick time. I work the night shift so they may say no to the personal days. Would there be any sort of retaliation by them if I call in sick the last 3 days? My last night is the 22nd I start the new job the 24.

If I am just whining in any of the questions please tell me. I do not take anything personally. Thank you for all your advise and again I apologize for the long post.

 

[Beth3]

1. Chalk it up as a learning experience for your manager. I expect HR intervened and said the company was not going to pay severance to someone who was voluntarily resigning to take another job. While I'm sure you would have liked the $4,800, from the company's perspective that was a completely unnecessary expense. Why would any company pay severance to someone who wasn't being laid off but rather was resigning to accept other employment??? (This is a "you can't have your cake and eat it too" situation.)

2. Huh? Are you saying that your employer paid for your college tuition and you have to pay the tuition back if you resign within 12 months of completion?

3. Calling in sick your last three days is a bad plan. They're certainly not going to believe you're ill and will know that you were lying and blowing off work. You want to leave any job on the best possible terms because you never know what the future may hold. You may want ( or need) to return to work for this company and at the very least, you want them to give you good references in the future. I advise you to work out your entire notice period.

 

[damian]

1. My manager called just(I am at work in a webhosting company's Network Center) looking for someone else, since I had him on line I asked. He informed me the layoff was a couple months from now they were trying to hire a unix person first. Resouces would have to be allocated to replace me. He informed HR of our conversation and they said that it was a resignation.

2. That is correct, since I am leaving prior to 12 months they require the money back. Now I did sign papers however, this also occurred when I worked for another company and I left prior to same period and did not have to pay them back.

3. I know calling in sick sounds bad but I thought I would put it past you. I always say that I will call in sick a couple days prior to my last day but I end up going to work out of guilt. That accounts for my having 2 weeks of unused sick time.

What do you think about the tuition situation? Should I fight it or just accept since papers were signed, which i realize in certain situations don't mean diddly.

 

[zappy]

You didnt plan this good enough, unless you are guarenteed the vacation days in writing, and have an option of getting them paid to you in cash, then you wll lose the 100 hours as a penalty for resigning.

Plus you will have to pay the $1200 in addition to anthing else you owe the company.

And the loss of severence,

I hope you are happy at your new job, it seems like a lot of money for you to lose.

 

[Beth3]

1. So apparently my hunch was correct.

2. If the other employer chose not to enforce the payback provision on their tuition plan, that was a generous thing for them to do. It has no bearing on whether your current employer will do the same thing. If you signed an agreement and took their money, you have to pay it back if they ask you to do so.

3. Calling in sick your last few days on the job is a good way to get a "not eligible for rehire" notice in your personnel file, as well as an iffy reference in the future.