Can't Go Exempt?

[flrdotcom]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona

My company decided to lay off roughly 250 people . On the bright side, they are giving us a 60 day notice and a severance package. That being said they told us we are not allowed to go exempt on our remainder paychecks or retention bonus payout. Can they legally do that?

 

[RedemptionMan]

yeah all companies right now are getting lean and not hiring or under freezes due to the subsidies that they will have to pay per employee for the Obama care plan, oh I mean the affordable health care act, although you may have health care. You wont have a job so at least there is that.

as far as the other, is it in writing or your employee handbook on how bonuses are paid? If there is not any language as to the legalities of the bonus if it is not or is paid out in the event you no longer work there then you are entitled to get the bonus. I have successfully litigated a bonus owed to me from a former employer.

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona

My company decided to lay off roughly 250 people . On the bright side, they are giving us a 60 day notice and a severance package. That being said they told us we are not allowed to go exempt on our remainder paychecks or retention bonus payout. Can they legally do that?

Why do you think your duties qualify you as an exempt worker?

 

[Proserpina]

(Let's see if I retained what I was taught!)

One can always go from exempt to non-exempt (even if your job duties don't change). The reverse however is NOT true.

So Zig's question is very important here!

 

[flrdotcom]

Why do you think your duties qualify you as an exempt worker?

Forgive me, i am not well versed in this, let me try and clarify. By exempt i do not mean from hourly vs. salary (no overtime). I mean exempt from federal taxes and adjusting my W4 tax information to receive as much of my retention bonus as possible.

 

[Antigone*]

Forgive me, i am not well versed in this, let me try and clarify. By exempt i do not mean from hourly vs. salary (no overtime). I mean exempt from federal taxes and adjusting my W4 tax information to receive as much of my retention bonus as possible.

Claim 8 or 9. That you can do without any hassle.

 

[justalayman]

Forgive me, i am not well versed in this, let me try and clarify. By exempt i do not mean from hourly vs. salary (no overtime). I mean exempt from federal taxes and adjusting my W4 tax information to receive as much of my retention bonus as possible.

Ah, so you want to alter your tax withholding so they take out less or no taxes.

they cannot actually prevent you from filing a new W4 but even if they do allow you to file a new W4, I suspect their payroll department is going to be lax in using the new information and changing the withholding on your paycheck. I would bet it would take them just about 60 days to get it all corrected and put into place. There really isn't anything you can do about them being slow to incorporate the new status other than complain to the feds. By the time it gets addressed, all will be done and over.

 

[commentator]

Yes, though they quite legally gave you the 60 days notice, they cannot be forced to process any payroll changes within this 60 days. It's all covered in the WARN notice requirements, I believe. You can ask, but as you said, they've said they won't do it. So you work out your notice, take your severance (which they were not obligated to give you at all in the absence of a labor contract) and file for unemployment insurance benefits while seeking another position. Nice touch, there, redemption, you don't have a darn clue why this company is closing, or what the circumstances are, so you decided to turn this into an uninformative rant.

It's good WARN is in effect, that they've even been required to give 60 notice, not to mention they're giving you severance. In the old days, I've seen a many of a company shut down by locking everyone out on Monday morning, or announce a lay off by handing out the lay off notices on Friday afternoon, nice surprise, and used to be legal.

 

[flrdotcom]

Yes, though they quite legally gave you the 60 days notice, they cannot be forced to process any payroll changes within this 60 days. It's all covered in the WARN notice requirements, I believe. You can ask, but as you said, they've said they won't do it. So you work out your notice, take your severance (which they were not obligated to give you at all in the absence of a labor contract) and file for unemployment insurance benefits while seeking another position. Nice touch, there, redemption, you don't have a darn clue why this company is closing, or what the circumstances are, so you decided to turn this into an uninformative rant.

It's good WARN is in effect, that they've even been required to give 60 notice, not to mention they're giving you severance. In the old days, I've seen a many of a company shut down by locking everyone out on Monday morning, or announce a lay off by handing out the lay off notices on Friday afternoon, nice surprise, and used to be legal.

I asked a question, i am not ranting. I am not looking for sympathy for losing my job. I can give a **** less about the old days, as I was not around during that time. I am thankful for my notice and my severance and I am not some bitter employee. Thanks for venting!

 

[CSO286]

I asked a question, i am not ranting. I am not looking for sympathy for losing my job. I can give a **** less about the old days, as I was not around during that time. I am thankful for my notice and my severance and I am not some bitter employee. Thanks for venting!

Alrighty, then.

 

[ecmst12]

No one was accusing you of ranting.

 

[justalayman]

I asked a question, i am not ranting. I am not looking for sympathy for losing my job. I can give a **** less about the old days, as I was not around during that time. I am thankful for my notice and my severance and I am not some bitter employee. Thanks for venting!

seriously guy, commentator is about the least judgmental poster on this board. What was said was out of compassion for your situation, not a rant or venting. An apology is in order.

 

[quincy]

flrdotcom, forum member "commentator" made an aside in her post to "redemption" (aka RedemptionMan) and that was not a comment directed at or meant for you.

I think you might have misunderstood her post.

I agree with the justalayman. commentator is one of the least judgmental posters on this forum and, in addition, she knows what she is talking about.

 

[RedemptionMan]

I took it off topic by assuming the company was laying off those 250 worked due to the fact that they will have to pay a 1000 dollars per employee per year for the next 3 years, for the affordable health care act, making an assumption that this was the reason the company was laying off the employees was wrong.


but that would be an additional 250,000 per year and a total of 750,000 during the 3 years, so your right that probably doesn't have anything to do with it.

 

[flrdotcom]

commentator, i apologize for my hot headed comment. I should have more thoroughly read your comment. I appreciate your response and guidance.