• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Eligible for unemployment/stay bonus if you decline a job offer?

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

BanjoTime

New member
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!
 
Last edited:


commentator

Senior Member
Look, at the present time, all bets are off the table. If they're offering you a job to stay at, and they're a business that is staying open, so everybody isn't getting downsized, laid off, found redundant, I believe I'd hold on to it tooth and toenail, not worrying about my unemployment eligibility or my "stay bonus." Which, from my reading of the wording of this, you're pretty much not ever going to get anyway. You could always run it by an employment attorney, if you can find one who's working. But it doesn't sound like it is going to be necessary for them to pay this to me. When a business is in the midst of this kind of economic upheaval, they're not going to be unnecessarily worried that they'll have to pay you anything due to the danger of you suing them for it. And as it stands, you wouldn't have a chance of getting this into a court for a really long time, even if you had a viable employment contract in which this was an issue and they'd clearly violated said contract. Which it doesn't sound like has happened anyway.

If they have a job for you in this troubled time, and you refuse it and go home, like so many people are having to do, you stand a pretty good chance of being approved for unemployment anyway. Provided you can use your state's horribly overloaded and overwhelmed system and get a claim filed anytime soon. They're in most cases approving everything, assuming everyone is being laid off due to the corona virus employment crisis, aren't going into the ifs and buts and are you truly laid off due to lack of work or are you given the opportunity to accept other work........ be sure you don't spend a lot of time when you file the claim going over that, because, frankly, everything may have changed anyway, and they do not care. When they ask, "were you offered a job, refused a job.....etc." on the application, weekly certifications, you do NOT have to go into the situation with your separation employer again and again. Just say no unless you have been offered another job with another entity.

If you decide to go on and leave now due to your anxieties that you'll not be able to do the new offered job and will be fired anyway, good Lord! That doesn't apply right now! As I said, these are very unusual times, this may give you opportunities that will enhance your whole career. Just go on and accept the new job assignment and do the best you can, and if you are fired for performance issues, you'll still be able to draw benefits, will be no worse off than you were. More weeks of drawing a paycheck is worth far more than being paid a retention bonus in these times.

You are worrying about VERY short term things, a "stay bonus" and the possibility that you won't be able to handle the new job and will be fired in the future.....but I repeat, these are not usual circumstances we are in right now. And unemployment, as I would've told the congresspeople who were so worried about it, isn't going to become a "lifestyle" It's not a career decision. Stay bonuses, or unemployment benefits are one time shots, they don't go on for a long time, and the chances are that you won't have anything to go back to work at when your unemployment claim ends if you have severed your relationship with this employer.
 
Last edited:

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top