Georgia
I found out last year that my salaried position was going to get outsourced and I was going to be laid off in 2020. I signed a contract for a stay bonus to be paid at the end of March "when administratively possible" for training my replacements and staying until the end of the retention period (March 31st) A few months into the retention period, they offered me some different positions within the company, but as a condition of accepting them I would forfeit my right to earn the stay bonus. I rejected these offers because I felt that they were above my pay grade and skill level. I'm a rookie 1 year staff accountant (first job out of college) and I was being offered positions in controlling and financial analyst which typically require years of experience as I understand it. It seemed too good to be true, and I actually had some concerns that these offers were to get me off the stay bonus, overwhelm me and fire me shortly after accepting for not meeting their expectations. I declined the offers and we agreed to keep the current contract. At the end of March I fulfilled my obligation but around March 25th a few days before I was supposed to be terminated, I was told that they would like to keep me for an additional month due to all the craziness going on with Corona Virus. I agreed to this, assuming I would still get paid my stay bonus at the beginning of April and as a favor to help out during these difficult times, and also to continue earning income and keeping healthcare for another month. Well, by April 5th I was concenred that I hadn't received my bonus yet, so I reached out to HR and was informed that by orally agreeing to stay one more month, I by default agreed to extend my retention period until the end of April and my stay bonus would not get paid out until the end of April... okay. I didn't sign anything agreeing to extend the period, but I didn't complain about it. It's not a terrible inconvenience receiving it one month later, although I would have liked to have known before hand to factor that into my decision. A few days ago the company suddenly terminated a number of high level positions, including my director who I directly reported to. A real shock and a huge restructuring to follow. Now, I am being told that the company wants to keep me on in a different position assuming more responsibilities and probably a ton more stress, but by accepting the new role I would have to forgo the stay bonus that they promised me. I really don't want the role and I definitely don't want to give up my retention bonus that I worked so hard for over the last several months, and who knows if they will suddenly terminate me like they did to all the other people that were much more important than me and supposedly had very secure positions. Now I'm wondering if they are even going to pay out my retention bonus should I reject the offer because it seems like things are beginning to spiral at this company, and if they'll just say that it's not "administratively possible" to pay the stay bonus because of all the nonsense going on right now in the economy and with the company financially. On top of that, I am concerned that since I rejected their offer I will be ineligible for unemployment because they technically did offer me a role. And I'm really fearful that I'm about to get hit with a double whammy of my company welching out of paying me the bonus because it wasn't "administratively possible" and also not being able to get unemployment. I would appreciate any input on how I should proceed. Thanks! |
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