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severance

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S

srobins

Guest
What is the name of your state? Maryland
My previous Employer changed their severance policy 11 days prior to laying off 250 employees without notifying us of the change. As a result of the change, approximately 100 employees were not able to collect any severence. Many of these were the long time employees with 15 to 20 years service, which would have earned them 20-30 weeks of severence. Is there some kind of good faith breech here?
 


cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Keep in mind that barring a CONTRACT to the contrary, severance is not required by law.

That being said, it is POSSIBLE (not likely, but possible) that the policy reached the level of being a contract IF it has been consistantly applied in the past. On the other hand, an employer does have the right to change their policies with or without notice to the employees. Depending on the circumstances, the employer may not have been able to afford to pay out severance based on the old policy if a major layoff was upcoming. Also, while I admit it's unlikely given the timing, I HAVE seen the trigger to require a layoff, the decision to make the layoff, the decision as to which employees to let go and the layoff itself, all happen within a four day period. It's not impossible (I grant you it's unlikely, but not impossible) that the timing is a coincidence.

Bottom line? You're going to have to show the old policy, with an explanation of the circumstances, to a local attorney for a definite answer.
 

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