# No paycheck for the first time in 37 years **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 15, 2004, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-paycheck-for-the-first-time-in-37-years/269430 "2004-10-15T18:46:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-paycheck-for-the-first-time-in-37-years/269430/1 "2004-10-15T18:46:24Z")
Well, I’m out of work for the first time in my life as of today. Back in March, I took a chance on a job opportunity that doubled my salary, knowing that it was an “at will” employer, and knowing that Native corporations in Alaska have a nasty reputation for canning people on a whim. So here I am seven months later with a severence check and no job. I know that people have things much worse, but it’s somewhat disconcerting, not having someplace I have to be every day. I guess I’ll treat this (hopefully) temporary hiatus as a vacation period and recharge the batteries. I just haven’t come to grips with it yet. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-paycheck-for-the-first-time-in-37-years/269430/2 "2004-10-15T19:02:01Z")
I’ve been in your shoes and it’s a lousy feeling. Your full time job is now finding another job unless you have enough stashed away to take a break. Good luck, Haj ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-paycheck-for-the-first-time-in-37-years/269430/3 "2004-10-15T19:17:54Z")
You’ll come back faster, stronger, more risk averse! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-paycheck-for-the-first-time-in-37-years/269430/4 "2004-10-15T19:22:23Z")
Yow—what are you going to do? What’s the unemployment-benefits situation? Insurance? What’s the job market like there for your profession? I suggest you take at least a week to lie there and whimper and feel sorry for yourself, before you go out and gird your loins again. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-paycheck-for-the-first-time-in-37-years/269430/5 "2004-10-15T19:23:47Z")
Dude, 37 years? Are you old enough to retire? Is it time to start that little bistro or B&B you’ve always dreamed of? In chaos is opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-paycheck-for-the-first-time-in-37-years/269430/6 "2004-10-15T19:40:11Z")
Cookies. You need lots of cookies. And then, after you’ve return from sugar shock, you’ll need lots of stamps (for mailing out all those resumes). My brother, **verbenabeast** , was laid-off two months ago and is still looking. Cookies. Definately. Lots of Cookies. Good Luck!! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2004, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-paycheck-for-the-first-time-in-37-years/269430/7 "2004-10-16T13:59:20Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Yow—what are you going to do? What’s the unemployment-benefits situation? Insurance? What’s the job market like there for your profession? > > I suggest you take at least a week to lie there and whimper and feel sorry for yourself, before you go out and gird your loins again. The whimpering began immediately upon realizing I was going from a six-figure income to zero in fewer than two seconds. Luckily, my wife has health insurance that I can tag onto. Since I resigned in order to collect the severance, I don’t think I’m eligible for unemployment. Since I’m in the construction and contracts business, I should be able to find something, but I’ve been in management for so long there’s no way I can go back to toting a toolbox. **DeVena** : I’m diabetic. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Tiggrkitty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tiggrkitty/32/17966_2.png) [@Tiggrkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tiggrkitty)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2004, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-paycheck-for-the-first-time-in-37-years/269430/8 "2004-10-16T14:10:20Z")
I feel for you. I went from a 6 figure salary to zero in a matter of minutes back in 2002. I was laid off along with 100,000 other employees of the company. I was working 70 hours a week and in the weeks after the layoff I was shell shocked with nothing to do and no plans. Go file for unemployment anyway, it’s a 50/50 chance either way but at least if it’s the 50 percent chance they pay you, then you have more flex in job searching . I took a severance package and I still got a bi-weekly unemployment check. Take a few weeks off to chill out. Trying to job interview while going through the shock of being unemployed is not an easy thing to master. Update your resume, build some cover letters and start looking at companies that you would be interested in working for. After you pull your thoughts together then start job searching. Good luck to you and best wishes for you job search. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ForgottenLore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@ForgottenLore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForgottenLore)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2004, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-paycheck-for-the-first-time-in-37-years/269430/9 "2004-10-16T14:28:40Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Since I resigned in order to collect the severance, I don’t think I’m eligible for unemployment. They wouldn’t give you severance unless you resigned? Dirty trick. I was let go four months ago from my job. Our company was bought and our office shut down. No warning, one month’s severance. At that I got a better deal than some. About half the employees were told they’d be ousted after three months, and then were also told that in order to collect any severance they had to work the full three months AND sign a term contract stating that they would not look for other work during that time (which I don’t think is legal, actually.) My boss, who was one of the unlucky ones, took one look at that contract and told them to take a hike. Actually I think stronger language was used. She went off to start her own company. Now for the uplifting news. I felt the same way you do when I was out of work. But after putting in a lot of effort (I was working at least as many hours in my job search as I had been at my job) I managed to land another permanent position in three weeks (I rejected a couple of offers for temp work). So its not necessarily true that you’re looking at months of unemployment. Keep at it. Any try to keep optimistic. It’s tough, I know. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2004, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-paycheck-for-the-first-time-in-37-years/269430/10 "2004-10-16T14:38:40Z")
**Chefguy** : I know how you feel. I wasn’t making six figures, but I did claim $50,000 on my taxes last time. I’ll be lucky if I get half of that this year. Over a million people have lost their jobs in the past few years, and the “new jobs” that were created pay much, much less. I’ve been laid off a few times. There was the end of the Cold War that caused many of us who worked for military contractors to be laid off because of fewer military contracts. The “Peace Dividend” was supposed to help us. Not me. I did get re-hired a month after being laid off, by the same company, but then _that_ project ended. I got a job with another aerospace company, but they ran out of money on one project and closed down the project I was on to pay for it. When you’re talking about data, there’s not much difference between missiles and money, so I got a job with a Credit organisation. Nine years of excellent service, and my job was outsourced last year. All that’s just to day, “I feel your pain.” ☹ Good luck, **Chefguy**. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2004, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-paycheck-for-the-first-time-in-37-years/269430/11 "2004-10-16T14:40:05Z")
> [@](#): > > They wouldn’t give you severance unless you resigned? Dirty trick. We all had to sign contracts that we would not sue for wrongful terminiation before the company would give us a severence package. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2004, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-paycheck-for-the-first-time-in-37-years/269430/12 "2004-10-16T14:42:47Z")
State laws vary greatly on eligibility for unemployment, but a compulsory or coerced “resignation” generally counts in most areas as a dismissal. Most severance settlements are described in time periods – “we’ll give you four weeks severance pay” – and you become eligible after the severance runs out. I _do not know_ what Alaska’s laws in this regard are – and I’d strongly suggest you check with a state labor department counselor; the worst that can happen is that he’ll tell you that in Alaska, a resignation, even a coerced one, doesn’t give you eligibility. But dollars to donuts there are provisions in the law for compulsory or coerced “resignations.” ---
**Author:** ![Tiggrkitty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tiggrkitty/32/17966_2.png) [@Tiggrkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tiggrkitty)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-paycheck-for-the-first-time-in-37-years/269430/13 "2004-10-16T15:18:36Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > We all had to sign contracts that we would not sue for wrongful terminiation before the company would give us a severence package. Wrongful termination and unemployment are two different things. I had to sign a contract that I would not sue when I got laid off, however I was still able to collect unemployment. Signing a contract in order to get your severance pay does not disqualify you from collecting unemployment. I would highly suggestion you go to your local unemployment office and sign up for benefits. It normally takes 2-4 weeks to process the request. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-paycheck-for-the-first-time-in-37-years/269430/14 "2004-10-16T15:22:23Z")
**Tiggrkitty** : We did get unemployment benefits. We just wouldn’t have gotten our severence packages unless we agreed not to sue. ---
**Author:** ![Cherry2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cherry2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cherry2000)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2004, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-paycheck-for-the-first-time-in-37-years/269430/15 "2004-10-16T15:31:14Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > We all had to sign contracts that we would not sue for wrongful terminiation before the company would give us a severence package. The company that laid me off did the same thing. Except we has to agree not to sue them for _anything_ …ever. And since I had a manager who was physically and verbally harrassing me, I wasn’t quite ready to give up that right. Normally, I would have been eligible for two weeks severance, but they decided that since I worked for them at one branch and transferred to another branch that that was a “break in my employment” (WTF?), so I would only receive one weeks worth. I politely declined it (by “politely declined”, I mean told them to shove it 😉 ). Chefguy, I feel your pain. Being laid off bites the big one. Hope you find something soon! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2004, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-paycheck-for-the-first-time-in-37-years/269430/16 "2004-10-16T16:38:23Z")
Not only did I have to sign a release saying I wouldn’t sue them, there was also language in there that said I can’t slander them or call them poopyheads in any fashion. I made them insert a _quid pro quo_ paragraph to insure that I’m not bad-mouthed to prospective employers, employment laws aside. Yeah, this was a ‘resign and get severance, or be terminated and get nothing but a boot up your ass’ deal. I went to an employment lawyer to see if I could nail them for promissory estoppels, since they lured me away from my last job (where I was tenured and being regularly promoted); since I didn’t have a contract, it was a non-starter. This is a large corporation that has been sued countless times for bad employment practices, and they’ve learned how to protect themselves. This is a small state, people-wise. Everyone of consequence knows everyone else of consequence, so doing the “fuck-you-I-quit” scene is generally a bad career move. I resigned with grace, considering the absolutely (deleted per my signed agreement with the company) way I was treated, and will just move on. Anyway, I can use the time off to regroup. I can do some work on my genealogy research and contemplate my navel. Maybe do some painting. The worst case scenario is that I would have to leave Alaska for a position elsewhere, which is not something I want to do at this point. I mean, cripes, I’m only a few years away from pulling the plug for good. This job would have meant retirement in three years; now I’m looking at five or more. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-paycheck-for-the-first-time-in-37-years/269430/17 "2004-10-16T18:50:30Z")
Reiterated: unemployment insurance is insurance, bought by your employer (mandatorily) to protect you in case they terminate you – it in no way resembles a “legal action” (lawsuit). You may be entitled to collect it, depending on the way the state laws are written and how they are interpreted by government agents. At the maximum cost of a very little effort, you may be pleasantly surprised – and you will **in no way** be violating your termination agreement by finding out. (I believe it’s “against public policy” based on case law to require as part of a termination settlement that a terminated employee not attempt to collect unemployment insurance – lawyers with familiarity with labor law, can you verify or correct that?)