A couple of links that laid-off people might find helpful as it becomes clear that the severance packages are a pittance of what they should be (and were just six months ago).
- How to negotiate a better severance package
- A law firm's website, which might be able to help people wring some justice out of this company.
Separately, a Philadelphia attorney contacted me, and said he's willing to speak to you about provisions of the WARN act, commonly known as the factory shutdown law. Many of you have asked about the law; here's what he told me in an e-mail:
I am a lawyer who specializes in mass layoff cases. Does anyone have any more specifics about individuals sites?
To be covered by WARN Act, either the entire site needs to be closed and 50 people must be laid off at that site; or 50 people and at least 1/3 of the workforce at a particular site must be laid off.
Charles A. Ercole, Esquire
Klehr, Harrison, Harvey, Branzburg & Ellers, LLP
260 S. Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102-5003
Email: cercole@klehr.com
Important caution: I am not endorsing any of these resources. I pass them to you with the usual caveat: Do not sign any legal agreements without first consulting an attorney you know and trust.
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
It is indeed with great sadness that I make this, my final post. I've been a tipster here in the past but that's not why I'm writing today.
ReplyDeleteJim, I'm really going to miss this blog - in mid 2007 as Gannett's stock was taking a severe nose-dive I studied this blog, the market, the industry realized that newspapers were dying a slow and painful death. I honestly don't believe our children will read an actual paper you hold in your hand in 20 years. I don't. I correctly predicted that Gannett and every other major newspaper in this country would severely lose money because the old advertising model would not sustain newspapers - not with the Internet where anyone can advertise - even in a Facebook stream meant for Michael Jackson poster's - for free. I quit my job at corporate and left for a different industry where I have never been happier. The job is different, but I am secure and insulated from what is surely a nightmare for the folks in Tysons and throughout Gannettland - many of them remain my friends. I read here with interest that some have questioned the way Gannet handles its pension plan. If this company goes belly up - and there is a distinct possibility it will - your pension will go with it. How devestating would it be to lose your job and your future? The federal government does not guarantee pensions as far as I know and if I am wrong correct me. If you are laid off, consider it a blessing. Take the money -literally as fast as you can - and run. I got my pension and 401K $ two weeks after I submitted my paperwork to HR by certified return receipt. Don't wait. File for unemployment, too. The Obama administration has extended it and in in many states (depending on whether or not your state accepted stimulus funds) you can collect it for 18 months, a blessing in this economy. You CAN collect it - don't let anyone tell you, you can't. Remember, too, that the company has to pay the bulk of your COBRA as well. Don't be disheartened. Sometimes a door has to close so a window can open and with its breeze give you wings to soar toward something else. Working a job for a company that cares so little for its talent is atrocious. Be glad your wait is over. Someone wrote that sometimes when we pray and the answer is "no" sometimes no can mean yes to something better. Be blessed and move on to bigger and better things. In the year since I've left, I spend more time with my family, pursue hobbies and finally, finally, finished a novel, which is being published in a few months. Life isn't just greener on the other side - it's vivid technicolor green, lush, and sweet. You all have my sympathy and my heart goes out to you. Jim, thanks for fighting the good fight, often for people who could have cared less; your blog changed my life and I'm sorry to see you go, but glad you're future is brighter. I know that you know that your life is far more fulfilling now than it was slaving at USAT. I shall miss you, most of all. Good luck, Godspeed.
- a saddened and former Gannett employee -
The links to the Career Protection website is helpful but it all seems to revolve around not signing any sort of separation document too early.
ReplyDeleteHere in Detroit they are not requiring laid off employees to sign anything. At the time a person is laid off HR presents them with documents that explain their severance and benefits and whatever else is in it. But they don't require the terminated employee to sign anything. They simply turn in their ID, keys and other company stuff and walk out the door.
I'm a manager and had to lay off a good employee in our last round of layoffs and that is how the process worked. So maybe without a signature there is nothing binding and the company can do pretty much what it wants?
Not offering a good severance package, especially to those that are sticking around for whatever reason, is just sooo wrong.
Here's the full link, http://tinyurl.com/9ptpy
ReplyDeletea bit cut-and-paste below
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is a federal corporation created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. It currently protects the pensions of nearly 44 million American workers and retirees in more than 29,000 private single-employer and multiemployer defined benefit pension plans.
PBGC guarantees "basic benefits" earned before your plan’s termination date (or the date your employer’s bankruptcy proceeding began, if applicable), which include:
Pension benefits at normal retirement age
Most early retirement benefits
Annuity benefits for survivors of plan participants
Disability benefits (see exception below)
1) When I was laid off in New Jersey in December, there was nothing for me to sign. The severance deal was the severance deal. True to form, my site's FAQ was wrong in its written instruction about unemployment insurance.
ReplyDelete2) I saw Dubow (in a crowd, not in person) in December and his physical health appeared excellent. What is your suspicion, Jim, about any nondisclosure about that since 2007? I think I read he has back pain. Do you think he has operated in a drugged state? My first thought would be steroid treatments in the disc to avert pain.
3) Would you please point us to the statute or case law or a lawyer who says a company can't change its severance deals for different people and/or at different times?
I want to support whatever efforts help our brethren in the next round of layoffs.
4) Incidentally, although I was able to collect severance and unemployment at the same time in this state, I don't feel it was unreasonable. I did find another job, but it took 5 months and I had to accept a 40% pay cut. I figure the UI checks will even me out through the rest of 2009, but if the economy doesn't recover so I can get back to my commensurate wages in 2010, my household then falls into bigger risk of quick ruin from smaller catastrophes, like an illness, a major immediate home repair, etc. The double dipping keeps me from being a public entitlement case for now, because Gannett's wages barely put me on the low end of middle class, anyway.
I mean, let's face it: The necessities I have to buy haven't been reduced 40%, and it's more likely we'll see inflation, not deflation, in the near future. A newspaper worker really needs that cushion.
Regarding your no. 2:
ReplyDeleteJournalists with two of the nation's largest news-gathering organizations have asked me these questions. I have referred them to Corporate. And that's all I'm comfortable saying.
Regarding the above poster's discussion about different severance terms during different layoff rounds, I know for a fact that there were different terms DURING my round in December. One person ON THE SAME FLOOR AS ME got 2 weeks for every year served because (s)he was an executive. I would be interested in participating, if there is a swell of support - if for no other reason than to support the folks who get axed in this round. Thanks for everything, Jim. Love ya long time.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of any law requiring a company to stick to a single severance plan. I detest Gannett and its operating methods, but I'm relatively sure the company could simply quit paying severance and suffer nothing but a PR blemish.
ReplyDeleteAs for pension plans, they are guaranteed by the government ... to a certain degree. Read the above-posters link.