Denied Severance on Lay Off

[Pep2000]

My State is NY (Suffolk County)

Hello,

I worked for a company for 9 years with a severance policy that stated that if I were layed off, I would get a week per year as severance. I was just layed off three days ago, and was only given 2 weeks severance. Here's what happened that allowed them to justify this. In preparation for these latest set of layoffs, the company passed around another updated copy of their employee handbook. We all had to sign off that we received it and read it. In it, they did NOT mention the topic of severance, but it was obvious from the exclusion that they did not want to commit themselves to paying out severance any longer. Five days later, they layed off a group of employees. I was included in that group. The company has been laying off people for a few years now because there has been a steady decline in revenue, but severance pay was always included as part of the termination package.

I have no doubt that what they did was unethical. However, is there any legal recourse I can take? I would appreciate any opinions and input in this matter.

Thanks
Pep2000

 

[cbg]

You do not have any legal right to severance. Severance is not required by law except in very specific circumstances, and nothing in your post suggests that those circumstances exist.

The question here is whether or not the previous policy is considered binding. Only a local attorney who has read ALL of the relevant documentation (and that includes the new policy that was provided to you a few weeks ago) can determined if you are guaranteed severance in any amount or not.

The fact of the matter is, severance policies are often changed out of necessity. If the company is in financial straits, which is often why a layoff occurs, they may not have the money to pay out large amounts of severance.