It happened to me: Unemployed

[MonkeyMama]

Yeah, in my industry there is no such thing as severance. The law is 2 weeks notice/pay. That's about it.

2 months sounds pretty darn nice to me!

OP - sorry to hear! It sounds like your attitude will serve you well, indeed. Good Luck!

[arthurb999]

Hit the ground running and hopefully you find a better job!

[Scanner]

As a small business owner, I don't personally get the idea behind severance.

I guess the self-employed just think differently. I do'nt work, I don't get paid. Plain and simple. No paid vacation. No healthcare (unless I buy it). No severance package. NO company car. No disability insurance.

Now. . .being given notice, a good amount, I get that. That's just courtesy. WHen I had to let an employee know I was discontinuing her position, I gave her 5 months notice and an opportunity to leave anytime before that.

But working for nothing? I personally don't get that. Apparently, the stock holders at GM didn't either.

PS: Good job on your finances and I am sorry for your loss. . .please ignore the opinionated nature of the above. I am glad you aren't too devastated.

[red92s]

As a small business owner, I don't personally get the idea behind severance.

PS: Good job on your finances and I am sorry for your loss. . .please ignore the opinionated nature of the above. I am glad you aren't too devastated.

No offense taken.

I guess it's not technically considered severance, as it only makes up the difference between unemployment insurance payments and my salary, ends immediately if I do not check in weekly to confirm I am willing to work and seeking work, and ends immediately if I find work.

I can't say I "get the idea" behind severance, but I'm glad it was offered. I've never assumed it would be part of a amicable split with my employer, but had hoped that my contributions and work ethic would at least bring it under consideration if it ever came up.

[Goldy1]

My dh got laid off from his computer cad cam job at a smaller company. He worked there dutifully for 9 years. His manager told him on Thursday to be out by FRiday(owner told manager to tell hime Friday) It was the 30th of the month and health insurance was to get cut off by the first of next(conveneint timing) I know business is business, but it was tough.
We were in the same boat as the OP and not at all financially devestated, but it was mentally taxing. WE had to find health and life insurance to get by util we found something else. IF you've never filled out a form for individual health insurance, I don't wish it on you my friend.
Getting our own life insurance without our jobs was something I did and didn't realize how needed it was.

I don't think health insurance should be tied to employment. Isn't it bad enough to lose your money that feeds your family and puts a roof on your head etc etc but to also lose your health insurance?

I have known of people unhappy in thier work having to stay b/c they need the insurance.

[cantretire]

Sorry to hear you lost your job Red. I lost mine in January.

This confuses me:

I guess it's not technically considered severance, as it only makes up the difference between unemployment insurance payments and my salary,

How is your company going to do this? UI will not pay if your company is still paying you. Anything your company pays you will be deducted from your UI payment. You can't do both.

[red92s]

Sorry to hear you lost your job Red. I lost mine in January.

This confuses me:

How is your company going to do this? UI will not pay if your company is still paying you. Anything your company pays you will be deducted from your UI payment. You can't do both.

I'm not sure how the specifics work. It's considered a "supplemental unemployment payment" instead of a severance and the documentation specifically states not to indicate you received a severance when filling out UI applications. Maybe it's just semantics or clever wording that insures it is not counted against UI, maybe it's some weird tax loophole available to corporations . . . I really don't know. But being a large, publicly traded company that gets audited every year I'd have to imagine it's well within the law or they wouldn't have the system.

[Daylily]

I'm not sure how the specifics work. It's considered a "supplemental unemployment payment" instead of a severance and the documentation specifically states not to indicate you received a severance when filling out UI applications. Maybe it's just semantics or clever wording that insures it is not counted against UI, maybe it's some weird tax loophole available to corporations . . . I really don't know. But being a large, publicly traded company that gets audited every year I'd have to imagine it's well within the law or they wouldn't have the system.

This was the same arrangement I had when I lost my job three years ago. All the terminations in the years prior to that received full pay. What happened was that the company paid out severance and on top of that was essentially paying the unemployment as well. For example. If a person was earning $4000 a month and they received 3 months of severance then the company would pay the $4000 and the ex-employee could also collect unemployment to the tune of about $1200 a month.

After that, the company changed it so that if the monthly salary had been $4000, the company would pay $2800 and then expect the employee to file for unemployment to get the other $1200 for the month.

It's all legit.

[Daylily]

My dh got laid off from his computer cad cam job at a smaller company. He worked there dutifully for 9 years. His manager told him on Thursday to be out by FRiday(owner told manager to tell hime Friday) It was the 30th of the month and health insurance was to get cut off by the first of next(conveneint timing) I know business is business, but it was tough.
We were in the same boat as the OP and not at all financially devestated, but it was mentally taxing. WE had to find health and life insurance to get by util we found something else. IF you've never filled out a form for individual health insurance, I don't wish it on you my friend.
Getting our own life insurance without our jobs was something I did and didn't realize how needed it was.

I don't think health insurance should be tied to employment. Isn't it bad enough to lose your money that feeds your family and puts a roof on your head etc etc but to also lose your health insurance?

I have known of people unhappy in thier work having to stay b/c they need the insurance.

Was your DH's company one of the few around not required to offer COBRA?

[red92s]

After that, the company changed it so that if the monthly salary had been $4000, the company would pay $2800 and then expect the employee to file for unemployment to get the other $1200 for the month.

It's all legit.

Yeah that's basically it. They assume you will file for UI and calculate your benefit, then deduct that from your take-home pay.

After some further reading it's paid from a special trust which has special IRS considerations which allows them to not have it count as severance for UI.

[Tree0164]

Add my family to the unemployed as well-we knew since the beginning of August that last Wed would be my husband's last day at work. Like Red, I am not stressing all that much we have 2 months of servence and have 8 months of income in the bank. We have cut down even more (ie eating out, going to the movies etc and mostly all entertainment). I have picked up a couple more freelancing gigs so I will be working more and hubby will be handling more of the day to day and household chores while he looks for a job.

[wincrasher]

My condolences on losing your job. Unfortunately it's happening to far too many these days.

Severance speaks to the very character of who a company is. I can't believe that on this board, someone would speak against the idea of severance.

In most states though, it's not required at all. It is a courtesy and at the sole discretion of your company, and often times, the individual manager doing the layoffs.

But it certainly is the decent thing to do. So is giving an adequate notice - you are generally expected to give a 2 week notice if you quit - but they can just come in on a Friday at the end of the month and let you go.

It's something to think about when you take a job - how do they treat their employees?

BTW, I'm self employed and also only get paid if I work and don't get UI.

[Alex_Adviser]

You may be focused on getting a similar job to the one you had, especially if you like what you did. However, it’s important to be flexible in this economy. Don’t limit your job search to what you formerly did. Expand your search to include other jobs that you could do. And if you are flexible enough to relocate, be sure to look at jobs in other geographic areas as well.

Perhaps this is the time to try out something you always wanted to, turn your favorite hobby into a new career, or even change your career direction altogether.

Depending on your financial situation and the size of your emergency fund, you may have to implement an expense reduction plan. Assess what you have, your expenses, and review your budget. Cut back on unnecessary expenses, put away your credit cards, and put purchases on hold.

[red92s]

Depending on your financial situation and the size of your emergency fund, you may have to implement an expense reduction plan. Assess what you have, your expenses, and review your budget. Cut back on unnecessary expenses, put away your credit cards, and put purchases on hold.

By moving out of my current apartment at the end of the month, and heading back down south (1,000 miles) and moving into my brothers newly purchased home my expenses would drop off dramatically. Being a first time homeowner, I suspect there is lots of "sweat rent" to be earned. Even contributing financially to help cover utilities and consumables, with my remaining expenses (insurance, gas, cell phone) I could be cash flow positive on unemployment alone.

"Luckily" I'm just beginning a career. I don't have gobs of expereince in one area or specialty, but I have enough of a varied background to be considered for multiple different fields in the 3-5 year experience range.

[EconoMutt]

Our severance used to be.. You get 15 minutes to get your crap out of the office.
Our new arrangement is 20 minutes before they kick you out and start to taser you. :-)
Anyway, Good luck on your job search.
Thankfully you had your finances in order.