Severance Pay in Texas (health insurance, employment, law)

[jason64]

I genuinely didn't know what other forum to try this on but here goes:

I was laid off this past week. I work remotely and my boss just called and said we are giving you a 2-week notice that your job has been eliminated. Please ship your equipment to this address and your email/internal access will immediately be halted but your official termination day will be two weeks from today. After that date, 1-2 days after, HR will contact you with severance information.

After this conversation I started to get concerned about being contacted AFTER i was no longer an employee about severance, like once I'm not an employee they can just be like "oh well you aren't an employee, we don't owe you anything" kind of thing. Is this something I should be concerned about and if so, what should I do about it?

BTW I was indeed laid off "without cause."

[ChristieP]

Texas is an "at will" state, meaning both you and the employer can terminate the relationship at any time for any reason.

Texas law is silent on severance pay. There is no law requiring an employer to pay it.

File for unemployment ASAP.

[Lowexpectations]

You are only owed for the unpaid time you worked and accrued but unused vacation. You aren't owed any severance pay by law

[jason64]

Originally Posted by Lowexpectations

You are only owed for the unpaid time you worked and accrued but unused vacation. You aren't owed any severance pay by law

Originally Posted by ChristieP

Texas is an "at will" state, meaning both you and the employer can terminate the relationship at any time for any reason.

Texas law is silent on severance pay. There is no law requiring an employer to pay it.

File for unemployment ASAP.

Thanks, but I was told that I would get paid a severance and that HR would contact me AFTER my final day of employment. My question is if I should contact them before my final day to inquire about severance, or what? I understand they may not pay it, but would it be a bad idea to wait on them? It seems like this could be a trick, and they would call me after my final day of employment and just said you are no longer an employee and are not eligible for severance anymore. I am just not sure what protocol is here.

Also, I can't file for unemployment until I'm no longer employed, right? And I was told that I'm still officially an employee until 2 weeks after I was told I was being laid off.

Unless I was lied to, I am still an employee and am going to be paid severance. It just seems odd I wouldn't be contacted about severance details until after my official final day of employment, and that's what I'm interested in learning details about.

[TurtleCreek80]

You need to followup with HR ASAP. I have never, ever heard of severance pay being communicated after the last day of employment. It is usually communicated when the employee learns of the layoff, along with all info about benefits (i.e., what date your health insurance will go through, how to get COBRA insurance, 401k rollover info, etc).

[ChristieP]

I agree. Call HR tomorrow. You will also be given a severance agreement to sign in order to receive the pay.

[KathrynAragon]

I agree also. Call HR Tuesday morning.

What have you got to lose? You're already getting laid off!

By the way, nothing in your situation seems specific to Texas.

[jason64]

Thanks all, I will call on Tuesday. I do know our company is laying off a whole whole bunch of people, and I hope the shear volume is what drove them to this delayed process. Nevertheless it makes me uncomfortable, so hopefully I get this sorted out on Tuesday.

[Trainwreck20]

One point to be careful about - some severance packages require that you 'quit' work to get the severance, thereby making you ineligible for unemployment. This doesn't sound like the case, but keep an eye on any 'severance' package strings.

Agree that it seems odd, though, to be talking packages after your official day at work.

[jason64]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

One point to be careful about - some severance packages require that you 'quit' work to get the severance, thereby making you ineligible for unemployment. This doesn't sound like the case, but keep an eye on any 'severance' package strings.

Agree that it seems odd, though, to be talking packages after your official day at work.

Thank you. I was told today by HR, in writing, that they cannot prepare my severance package until after my final official date of employment. Soooo what exactly do I do here? I mean I guess if I have it in writing then I don't have anything to be worried about?