Thread regarding AT&T layoffs

In WA state, severance doe not usually impact unemployment. From WA state's unemployment benefits website:

17. How does severance pay, pay in lieu of notice or continuation pay affect my benefits?
18. Severance payments do not usually affect your unemployment benefits. However, pay in lieu of notice or continuation pay with full benefits that are guaranteed can affect your benefits. Report any separation-related payment you receive or are entitled to receive to the claims center.

Payments are considered severance pay when:

The payments are not assigned to any period after your date of separation from your employer.
You are not on call or in any way required to be available to your employer in order to receive these benefits.
Your fringe benefits do not continue to accrue (vacation, retirement, sick, etc.).
You accept a new job and it does not affect your severance pay.

When you file for unemployment, they contact the company that laid you off for the details. If you don't qualify you don't get it. You can appeal, sounds like that route failed for the OP.

People somehow thinks we are weeks of pay...they are not. It’s an incentive to leave to save a employee with less seniority thier job. Careful how you explain it ....it’s not weeks of pay.

(for Management) Your are not paid X Months of severance. The amount of your severance is 80 hours of pay X number of years employed (up to and including 13)

You are being paid to leave the job, you are not being paid to survive X months. This is not pay it is a settlement. It is a subtle difference, and people need to be careful how they present the information. Just because your payment equates to the same amount of 6 months, it is not that. Your severance/settlement is not pay in lieu.

Severance would be weeks of pay // a SIPP is a bonus bases on years of service and wages. If it was based on weeks of pay then these amounts would go up yearly ( for Union employees the amount is a set up amount for life of contract.) so in Texas , Union members are eligible for Unemployment.in Texas.

I experienced that in Texas in 2002; no unemployment during the severance period.

I know many people in Georgia that got UE with their severance as well. I chose not to because I wanted to retire. The job market (pri-Virus) was so hot I did not want the hassle of dealing with recruiters. There are still a lot of help wanted signs and recruiters online even now in Metro Atlanta.

In 2002 I collected UE and a severance package. No questions asked.

In Illinois you can collect severance AND UE!

This is interesting - an area of gray.

In this section, “severance pay” means dismissal or separation income paid on termination of employment in addition to the employee’s usual earnings from the employer at the time of termination. The term does not include any remuneration received by an employee under:
(2) a written contract, including a collective bargaining agreement, negotiated with the employer before the date of separation from employment of the employee.

Does that mean severance pay per contract is exempt, as opposed to other severance pay?

When I was a surplus victim in Michigan years ago, the union gave us a copy of the ruling that the weeks of pay based on seniority was NOT severance, but a bonus.

I think the reason was it was in the contract and based on years worked.

This is pretty common in many, if not most states. Your severance paid you for six months.

the link does not work, and i do not believe it has changed.

That happened to me last year in GA. A former colleague also in GA got it though. It may hav been how we both completed the application. In mine i said i will be getting severance. Not sure what she said on hers.