Obviously inspired by the recent events at Twitter. It got me thinking, what would I do in that situation? You’re told you will be terminated from your job in 120 days and that you will continue to be paid with the same salary and benefits until then but you can not return to the work site or do any work for the company. You are effectively laid off with 4 months salary severance.
But a day or so later your employer contacts you and says you are actually needed in the office, that you should not have been included in the group that will be let go in a few months.
What do you do? How do you play this?
For me, I would assume they want me back because someone in my management chain realized they would be up shit creek if something only I could do could not be done. I would assume it wasn’t really a mistake but a “hey they are still employed and we need them to do x, if they don’t do it they know we can fire them for cause” [which means no severance]. I would assume this just to kick my own ass into looking for another job while I’m still employed. It would be a really shitty situation. I might seriously think of asking a lawyer but I don’t know any and really wouldn’t know where to begin and wouldn’t expect much of a solution anyway.
In the end, I’d probably do as shitty of a job as I could while stringing along my management as long as I could until I could find another job. The robbing of the severance package would be my motivation.
Come back and sabotage. Make as many mistakes as possible, preferably mistakes that will have subtle and long term consequences. Leak embarassing documents if you can access them, if need be by mistake. Configure other people’s e-mail servers to “reply all” by default. Change SI units for imperial units and vice versa. Steal all the toilet paper in the office.
Cover your tracks. One may dream…
Why wouldn’t you think you will still be gone in 120 days? Probably after training your replacement. I’d ask them, “What incentive do I have after I’ve already signed the paperwork giving me 120 days of free pay & benefits?”
You’ve already given me my notice and promised me severance? Good. I’ll be staying home. If my direct deposit doesn’t hit my checking account on schedule I’ll be seeing you in court. Good luck with the hole you’ve dug yourself into, 'cause I won’t be digging you out.
I’ve been give notice and been promised severance?
What possible motivation could I have to work 1 more minute for that company?
I might be amendable to work as a consultant, on a separate contract, but that contract better be bulletproof and paid in advance, and then only after the severance check clears.
The company has shown to not care about me, I need to be looking out for #1.
All of this. The company has tipped its hand. It has shown it has no regard for my well-being, but is also in desperate need of my services. Now is the time to push for everything I can get in the short-term, while planning my escape for the long-term.
If they won’t go for the contract option, I walk. If they can somehow take back the severance offer (not sure how, but I’m not a lawyer), I do the bare minimum to not get fired again while looking for a new job on their time, because they will fire me again the moment they perceive benefit for themselves in doing that.
Could they still fire you during that time even if they don’t ask you to return to work? If so, then the risk is the same.
I am.not sure, but can one request their severeance in total rather than the scenario where one is still on payroll receiving a paycheck every two weeks during that time?
In the US, employees are sometimes protected by the WARN Act which requires companies to pre-notify employees before eliminating their positions. The pre-notification period might be 2 or 3 months and it might be casually referred to as severance even though it is not. At the end of this period, the employee is terminated and may receive actual severance.
In practice a lot of companies tell their employees to go home and not come in during that time. The company will deactivate their badges, email, and network, but the employee is still employed – they get paid normally, continue to get benefits, they might still qualify for bonuses.
So a long answer to your question – the portion triggered by the WARN Act will be paid out over time and there wouldn’t be a way to get a lump sum. The severance is probably a lump sum.
To answer the OP, I had a situation similar to this happen to me. I worked at a remote office that was consistently downsizing. At one point they decided to close the office; they offered severance and some people got retention incentives. We were expected to continue working for the pre-notification period. A few weeks later they changed their mind and kept the office open. The severance was rescinded, but the retention bonuses could not be. I decided it was time to find a new job and not wait around for a bonus. It felt good to take control of the situation rather than be bounced around by the whims of the decision makers.
I would tell them, that I had already accepted their termination and severance offer of 4 months of salary, but if they wanted to separately discuss a contractual arrangement going forward I would be happy to consider that.
I would assume that the only mistake had been which round of layoffs I had been grouped into and would negotiate a very favorable (for me) contractor work agreement.
ETA: Or if they really didn’t want to do that, a 5 year employment contract to ensure my job security.
I think it all depends on what the company put into writing. Did they explicitly say you were officially employed but were not to come in? Depending on the state, that may or may not count as notification.
The companies I worked for had as part of the severance agreement that you could not leave with severance and come back as a contractor for a certain amount of time, I think a year.
Another factor is access to company systems. A company basically laying off people but still officially keeping them on the books with logins is asking for trouble.
Yeah, in case it wasn’t obvious, and judging by some of the responses it isn’t, this is a situation where you are still employed by the company during the duration of the 3 or 4 months, you still must abide by its code of conduct & rules. There is no coming back as a contractor because you are still employed. You could quit, or do something to get fired, but then you would have nothing.
Read CaveMike’s post about situations like this. He did a much better job than me at explaining it.
But even when you are no longer employed, the rules I’m familiar with prevent them from hiring you as a contractor, I suppose to keep managers from fulfilling the layoff by firing someone and then effectively hiring them right back after they get a severance payment.
And I hadn’t thought of this, but in your scenario the employee would be prevented from starting another job until after the pseudo-severance runs out, while in the normal case they can collect their money and start working the next day if they’ve been proactive. Much worse for the employee.
The answer depends a great deal on the nature of the stock benefits I’ve already received. Have I locked in a low ESPP price? Is there a batch of stock grants about to vest? Etc.
Equity benefits are intended both to keep employee and corporate interests aligned, as well as act as “golden handcuffs”. But they are very timing dependent. And a bunch of underwater stock options have no value.
Different but related question: How would unemployment benefits factor into the scenario?
If someone at Twitter decided, at the time the “work like slaves, or we’ll let you go with severance” notice came out. that they wanted to take the severance offer, would t his be considered a voluntary separation on their part or could they claim unemployment (presumably after the 3 months or whatever)?
I’m assuming that Musk would protest all related unemployment claims as a matter of course (some asshole employers do). But surely there’s some “substantial change in job requirements” rule in unemployment benefits, that lets you be covered in this situation?
Assume I’m not going back and the 120 days is still final (because it sure sounds like it in this scenario). Spend up to 120 days (hopefully less) redoubling my efforts to find another job. Go through the motions of still being employed. Assume this is only a temporary respite at best.