Screwed out of my Severence LONG!Okay, this might be a LONG post. I worked for a municipality for about 2 and a half years.....in the last 3 to 6 months of that time, my supervisor started acting *itchy or irritable, at any rate, after satisfactory performance reviews, she all of a sudden found fault in the methods in which I was doing things that she didn't approve of...basically, I had been doing things all along, that she never said anything about, then all of a sudden started being a stickler about it. Ie - Taking too long to do certain tasks, when I KNOW that the time I take to do things is nominal or within reason, and when taking my vehicle out and a bout, complaining that I should have went "This way" instead of "that way" because it would save me a block or 2 on a trip, to save on gas, to me I don't think it mattered, but hey, whatever....I saved 5 cents in gas (plus they are city vehicles, since when do city officials care about that kind of crap?) The amt saved is insignificant...I could understand if I was going miles out of my way, but a couple of blocks? Who cares Anyhow, it was "building" and later HR Calls me in on the carpet calls me on the carpet, and tells me my job is in jeapardy, and I should consider taking another position with in the city, which could be something from a Library page, to a sanitation worker (the ones that were available) I asked, "do I get to keep my pay rate?" and she said, "Nope" But I had the option to stay in my current position and "stick it out" for 30 days to see if I improved...but...however, the plan, by my supervisor, was not trying to get me to improve, but to find fault, and get me to fail, make a track record of crap she found fault with, etc (Believe me, I could find fault with alot of crap she pulled, however, she's my boss, so thus, I have place, I cannot evaluate her...only she can evaluate ME.) Anyhow, 30 days come and go, I am called into the Main Office where my immediate supervisor, plant manager, and the Department Head (who tries to indimidate you). aare all there. Now...you MAY have thought "Welp, someone's getting the axe" BUT....I didn't get the axe...believe it or not...BUT, I was offered the opportunity to "resign", yes....I was ASKED to resign (anyone ever hear of that one??, I thought they only did that to Presidents or CEO's or Impeachments, lol...did they do that with Good ol Bill Clinton?") They even made up crap, that I was "insubordinate", and I asked, "Well, how was I insubordinate" and they said, "You did not complete the work that you were told to get done in time." And I told them that Ihad read the Employee Policy, and by definition "Insubordination" is either 1. Disrespect to your supervisor ie - "telling them to go "F- off" or abusive language or 2. REFUSING to do the work you're told to do....in my case, I have never in my entire time there REFUSED to do work, I was always willing to do it, but they some how equated me to not getting it done "on time" as insubordinate. Anyhow, using my noggin' , I refused to resigned, and continue to "stake it out", I think they were taken aback by this, because they probably never had anyone do this. You really want to know WHY I did this? WHY I refused to resign?? Because I would lose or at least RISK losing my UI by "quitting". I then tell my supervisor that I had made my decision, and plan on sticking around, she then proceeds to tell me, that if I do NOT resign, I would forfeight (sp?) all my vacation that I had saved up INCLUDING my sick leave. I didn't budge, because I would obviously be getting more money with UI instead of what I was getting with that "severance". Anyhow, I was told to make a written statement to say I had plan on continuing to "stake it out" and give it to the Dept. Head. I go back to my workstation. I call UI to confirm this, and I talked to 2 UI Reps, and they both said "Don't DO it!, You'll lose your UI!!" I was like "Hm, lucky me, made a smart move!" I finally give my written statement to the Dept head the next day, and then later go back to my work area/station. I later get a call from the HR Director saying this "as a friend" she throws in...don't make me puke, I don't know her from Adam....that I should SERIOUSLY reconsider my decision to RESIGN. I told her I am still sticking to my decision (it was f unny because about 3 different people told me I should reconsider, lol...like they were begging me not to do it, they just so anxoius) Anyhow, she seemed a bit terse at my decision, and said, "Well, I'm going to forward your file to the Unemployment Claims Dept" Which meant, she's going to prove that I was fired "With cause" because...apparently, if you're fired...and it's "with cause", that just might disqualify me from UE....but, I knew better, most firings due to performance related situations, the only time that it would disqualify me would be if I sexually harassed someone or did illegal drugs or punched a boss. At any rate, I was called into the Plant Managers office, and again, he caculated the "Dollar Figure" i'd be loosing out on..e.tc. (Personally, I think they didn't intend on pay ing me anything) Anyhow, with that said, I was asked to turn in my badge, keys, uniforms, etc. and to leave the premises and not to return to the property. I did that, prior to that, being the "Letter Writer" that I am, I made about a 2 page letter expressing my disapproval of how they treated me, mailed one to the City Manager, and the other to HR. I get a letter at home from HR saying, "We received your letter of resignation"!! I was like WTF? How did they figure that was my resignation letter, when it was just a "What they did to me was unfair" letter.???? Needless to say, that was bullcrap...so I attempted to CALL them on it, apparently, I think they were trying to get out of paying me ANYTHING.....so I was thinking, "Hm, since they are calling it a resignation, then I get my severance, right??" I called them up to ask them this, and they were like, "Nope, you did not give a 2-weeks notice" I was like WTF? You wanted to fire me in ONE DAY!!" And they stated, "Sorry, that's the policy" So they screwed me out of my money there.....was seriously considering sueing them for the severence due to "Estoppel" meaning, "When the defendant gives the plaintiff an expectation, and does NOT follow through with it" Though hard to prove though in a court of law. I have friends and family telling me that I should serioulsy sue them for my vacation pay. Okay, about my Unemployment Insurance, in case you were wondering, lol......something good DID come out of that one. I get a call from the adjudicator.....because when I was "let go" I went home immediately and filled out the online paperwork for UI, on that form, I stated that "I was fired" as my "Reason for being let go". Then, when I received that letter from HR saying "I resigned" well ...[Message truncated]
I am assuming that you kept a copy of the letter? Did you send the letter return receipt? I hope so. Did you get a formal letter from your employer firing you? If so, on what grounds? Did you request to see a copy of your employment / personnel file? Clearly you did not resign. Hopefully you mailed the letter after your last day of work when you were told to turn in your badge and keys and not return to work. Hopefully they have not falsified their records. Severance pay is not something they have to pay you, but in some states they do have to pay you for any accrued vacation time (not sick time though). Did you retain the names of the people you talked to at the unemployment office?
You made the choice to trade your "severance", 2 weeks notice, any hope of a good or neutral reference and whatever else you could have salvaged from this mess for a couple hundred bucks a week of UI. That was your choice. I don't know why this job went bad, but once it did, you made conscious choices that resulted in the loss of any those things, even though you admit everyone warned you about it. I don't know what you hoped to gain from your ranting letter, but whatever satisfaction you got from that, hopefully it was fulfilling while it lasted.
Tess TM Smalley, I got hired by another employer regardless, besides, I found other people I could use for references....people that I worked with and clients/vendors I worked with.....they even agreed that my supervisor was a real "pain in the patotiee". So I didn't need those jerk-offs as a reference. After I was hired by my current position, I called my references to thank them for giving me a reference to the recruiter. They both remarked about how my boss was a "you know what", one reference joked around with me and said, "Hey, perhaps you can get <my former boss' name> a job at your place, and work along your side? LOL" I said, "Yeah, RIGHT!!" Funny, having your references "dog out" your previous boss. Personally, I think they were making an attempt to keep me from getting both UI AND Severence I sometimes think "Rants" can be a good thing, thing is, it's good to stand up for yourself, and not be a push-over, I think that's alot of peoples problem, they just don't want to "deal with it" or are afraid to say anything in their defense. Guess I am one of those "Annoying" letter writers. If we had more "letter writers" perhaps we could make a difference, but people are too scared to. Alot of people seem to make "screw ups" slide, afraid to make an arguement. What's so funny is, someone made an attempt to "Unionize" this municipality, and you had to vote "yes" or "no" for a Union...I voted "yes". Though a Union in a right to work state might seem useless, you could probably guess why I voted "yes." Anyhow, I found references that I could use, without having to use any previous "bosses or supervisors". There was also something the plant manager said to me that really almost provoked me to tell him to pound dirt...was....when he let me go, I was walking down the hallway, then I stopped to get my thoughts to gether, made sure I had everything....then he comes out in the hall and says, in a very #### and rude way, "What's the matter, can't ya find the door??" There is nothing wrong with writing a letter and venting your frustrations. It is a recognized practice among the psychiatric community. However, if you are going to rant and rave in this fashion and then send the letter to another party, it is best that, after writing the letter, you set it aside. The next day when you are calmer, you can review your letter and cull the parts that don't make sense, are your opinion and not fact, are confusing, fix the mispellings, correct the grammatical errors, etc. If you write a letter of complaint or a letter to vent some action, your point will come across to the reader with no mistake. I worked for the government for considerably longer than 2 1/2 years and the sick and vacation time you accrue are not considered severance pay if you leave. As a matter of fact the ability to accrue the time at all is a benefit. Further, sick time is not paid out upon leaving the government nor does it follow you if you leave one branch for another. (an example of this is if you leave state employment for local city or county employment and vice versa. You lose the sick time. Your vacation time IS paid to you) If you transfer from one department to another department within the same government agency, your sick and vacation follow you (example is going from county recorder's office to county surveyor's office) When leaving the government altogether, you lose your sick time but vacation time is paid to you. ALWAYS. It is a common practice in government work for the supervisors/managers/department heads/whoever to request that the employee resign rather than face the prospect of firing. Because it is so hard for government agencies to justify a firing, the stigma that is faced by the employee and the department is considerable and the amount of chances given to improve performance far exceeds that of private employers. I worked with a woman who had been at the same agency for almost 20 years, however during the time I was with that particular department, she took a sick day at least once a week. She claimed a degnerative nerve disease was the cause however refused to take advantage of the medical benefits of the agency to have this confirmed by a doctor. Any doctor. Even one of her choosing. She spent a good deal of her time on the phone loudly berating her children or complaining that her husband didn't do enough to make her happy. As a result her work suffered and quite often I had to pick up her slack. She was asked to take her vacation using her accrued vacation time to think about her next plan of action which would be either to apply for medical disability or resign. She had a little less than two weeks vaca time and during that time applied for short term disability which eventually led to long term. Exactly one year from the date she took her vaca, long term was approved and she resigned. The reason her doctor listed as eligble was Fibromialgia (spelling). If she had gone to the doctor in the first place, a lot of heartache and headaches could have been avoided. Because she resigned, she is eligible to apply to work for the agency or department again when she gets her act together. If she were fired (which there was considerable cause for) she would have been ineligible for rehire. Perhaps that is the reason the agency you worked in wanted you to resign. So that you would be able to return to work within that agency if you so wanted. Whereas your being fired, you can't. I never wanted to work for that place again, so it's moot. Hey MR- I am very sorry this happened to you, but I am VERY glad you not only stood up for yourself, but that you also seem to know the law and your rights. So many employees do not know and wind up getting taken advantage of, and some employers bank on their employees ignorance. Kudos to you for your actions. Peace, TG | |
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