Is there any scenario where an employee can be denied severance package come sept 16th layoffs for any unfair reason and simply kicked out. Cannot trust my management i know this might be rare but have something like this has happened before? I am happy as long as severance is given will quietly go if not i need to have a backup lawyer any suggestions how to tackle such scenarios. This is a serious question not trolling.
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For those of us getting LRd on the 16th and we’ll be in our 60-day non working period (aka WARN). What happens if we take a job before Nov 17th, will we lose out on our severance package? Can we double dip with Cisco and the new company?
In the past, it's only been a 30-day non working period. You're terminated at the end of 30-days and paid lump sum for the remaining 30-days. Not sure if that's true this time.
Cisco won't care if you double dip because they've blocked your access to any critical company data, and they're monitoring your activities on your work laptop to see if you're copying any data off it. If your new company doesn't care about you double dipping there's no problem, and why would they care since Cisco doesn't expect you to work. It's not like you're trying to work dual jobs, you can devote 100% of your time and effort to the new employer.
Your employment ends on the termination date in your notification letter, or the day you sign the agreement. You're highly recommended to sign it on your identified termination date. Once you sign, you're officially terminated and the normal bi-weekly paychecks stop and the "severance package" payment is sent after the 7 day (?) period for you to revoke your agreement to not sue.
Don't be silly. The previous comment said you CAN win against a big company, but ONLY if there are clear skeletons and you have the receipts to prove it.
The people whining on here about suing Cisco don't have a case, and are just being children who didn't get all the candy they want. If you have a real case, go for it, but if you only have hurt feelings, then save your money and su-k it up.
Also those who say that you can't afford to sue them are full of ...it. Why? Because if you win you get that money back.
Infantile comment. Anybody can afford to WIN a suit, very few can afford to lose it.
I know people that have sued a major company (J&J) for medical device faults. You cannot believe the DIRTY TRICKS that lawyers will perform to bury you. Even with solid proof (product recall and a faulty device in your hip) they will do everything to not pay you a red cent (they have to justify the $800 per hour).
No individual has ever won a case against big corporations unless there were mistakes made. Cisco is not leaving dead bodies behind, to be discovered later for a lawsuit. For an individual to sue a large Corp with valid reasons and have a positive outcome, is rare and far in-between. There are too many lawyers on payrolls and individuals don’t have the runway, nor the money or time to pursue for a positive outcome. Most just let it go, that’s the reality.
And what is your support for that statement ?
I keep posting this link for mo--ns like you
https://portal.scscourt.org/search/business?businessName=Cisco
No individual has ever won a case against big corporations unless there were mistakes made. Cisco is not leaving dead bodies behind, to be discovered later for a lawsuit. For an individual to sue a large Corp with valid reasons and have a positive outcome, is rare and far in-between. There are too many lawyers on payrolls and individuals don’t have the runway, nor the money or time to pursue for a positive outcome. Most just let it go, that’s the reality.
You can do this: if you have a solid case with undeniable evidence you could take the case to your state small claims court where you could represent yourself. In that case Cisco will have to pay a layer more than they owe you (I believe the claim must be under 25K) in which case they may just let it go.
The other way to deal with this is to go public with what you know or what they are doing to you and they may take a reputational damage that it is not worth.
Also those who say that you can't afford to sue them are full of ...it. Why? Because if you win you get that money back. If you case is so blatant and obvious they know they can't win and they will pay. There is a reason why they pay you a salary more not to lawyer up. Don't believe that their lawyers are free and worth every penny in just any case.
If there is a risk for them to pay punitive damage the lawyer will tell you and that is a big deterrent for Cisco.
There is nothing in law that Cisco has to provide any severance, it’s at will employment for most. Even the package could be different each cycle. There are circumstances that could prevent one from signing the waiver, including finding out someone is double dipping, talking to a competitor, or any of its policy violations, thus denying payment.
For those of us getting LRd on the 16th and we’ll be in our 60-day non working period (aka WARN). What happens if we take a job before Nov 17th, will we lose out on our severance package? Can we double dip with Cisco and the new company?
I can’t imagine that happening. That would be a potential lawsuit and I don’t think it would be worth it to Cisco.
Yeah, 99% of “leaders” would just shrug “it’s the company’s money”, let the payments happen, and move on. Path of least resistance. Only a real psychopath would try to sc--w you out of every last cent.
I would guess it's not very likely, but it is possible since Cisco, in both CA and NC, falls under the "At will" clause. I can't speak to every remote worker who's hired in some other, non-at will state falls under the CA policy since Cisco is headquartered there and seems to follow/apply the employment rules of CA with regards to WARN, severance, etc.
I can say, that as an employee hired in NC, that my offer letter stated that Cisco was an "at will" employer and that, Cisco or the employee, could terminate the employment at any time for any reason. You need to see if that verbiage is in your offer letter or not.
If you fall under the at will clause, then yes, they could terminate you w/o any severance. I've not heard of that, and I've known people back in the days of Chambers as CEO who were managed out via a Personal Improvement Plan, or PIP, but they received severance packages. I don't, however, know any details of that the package is or was, but I know that it's offered. I was put on a PIP at one time, but managed to avoid being terminated via that process. I had asked HR about what happened if I was terminated and I was told I'd get a package, but they couldn't share the details w/ me until I was actually terminated. I was on the PIP back when Cisco offered that first early retirement offer in 2011 and my manager decided to take it and the replacement manager didn't think I deserved to be on it and wanted to see what my performance was under them. They later agreed that the former manager was just "empire building" and because I wasn't a butt kisser that they wanted me gone to replace me with one.
It's much easier, and less risky of an arbitration case if they just LR you and give you the package. The package is as generous as it is to encourage people to "go quietly" and not raise a stink, as you indicated you would do if offered it. (See, it works.)
On the other hand, I've know a few people, and read here about more people, whose management calculated their IPF such that their total year-end bonus equaled what was already paid to them as the mid-year bonus and their portion of the 2nd half of the bonus was split among the remaining team to increase their bonus to keep them happy. That's a real risk to you. You have to decide if you want to use a lawyer to try to get (61% CPF * 100% IPF)/2 * 7% (for grades less than 10) - the 25% mid-year bonus already paid. Assuming a 1.0 (100% IPF), and $100K salary, that's $5,635 for the total year-end bonus. The mid-year payout would have been $1,408.75, so that's a $4,226.25 bonus max you could get (adjust accordingly for your actual salary and bonus percentage). I think a lawyer will cost you more that $4K just to get that $4K. Even if you make $200K a year, that's just over $8K and the lawyer will eat up most of that.
In any case, you'll find out on Sept 16th, if you're in the US.
You got enough money to hire a backup lawyer ? Nice !