Does anyone else feel that they were screwed over with the severance payment? I was taxed at an outrages rate due to it being a lump sum. More than 1/3 of the severance went to taxes. Instead of giving the option for smaller sums over time, B&N only provided the lump sum to tax everyone at a higher rate. Great! Thanks B&N, I'm sure the IRS is proud of you.
19 replies (most recent on top)
@RZ9emeb-ivrh. You're not getting "recompense"
I have still received nothing, this is the 7th business day of waiting as I've been dicked around and had to fill out the packet twice. Just another way to save a few pennies while screwing us over, I put in 13 years, i want recompense
Everyone was supposed to have received two weeks severance pay no matter how much time they had. Vacation is accrued so you may not have had a full week vacation. If they paid you out when you left there is no severance paperwork to sign. What state are you in?
I still haven't received anything from the company in the mail - but I did get a direct deposit for my last week and un-used vacation and personal days. Is that the "severance" everyone is talking about?
It depends on how much time you have to be paid out as well as what state laws apply. You shouldn't be paying more taxes because they are figuring it up weekly. View your paycheck in hraccess. 3 weeks or less, or state law gets you lump sum payout. State law determined who got their checks the day we were laid off.
It was based on who the Company liked more.
I'm the person who created this thread. I was not given the option for weekly installments, just a one time lump sum payment after vacation/personal time and the last week was paid. I'm reading that some of you did get more options. At this point I'm assuming the packet varied by location or state. I sent my packet priority mail on a Tuesday, they received it on a Friday and got the final payment (lump sum) the following Friday. In paying me, they were highly organized - it was all done via direct deposit as normal for me. I just hate the fact that I was not provided installment options. And no, they did not take out medical since I never used their coverage.
Did you send it Priority Mail and check your USPS Tracking number to make sure they received it?
I sent in the signed and notarized paperwork about two weeks ago and haven't heard a thing since. I received my last week of work and left-over vacation pay via direct deposit relatively quickly, but still haven't received the severance payment. Has anybody gotten that yet?
Call them! Don't come here for wrong information.
"We got to choose lump or weekly on the waiver. Wasn't that confusing ...we WERE in a reading-based industry, after all."
If only the company would give me something to read - then I would know what was going on - and wouldn't have to come here to find information,
My reading material has yet to arrive in the mail.
I am curious about whether they will mail or direct-deposit my checks ... they handed me checks for my last 2 weeks & earned vacation instead of just depositing it as usual.
So much misinformation here.
We got to choose lump or weekly on the waiver. Wasn't that confusing ...we WERE in a reading-based industry, after all.
You don’t understand taxes.
Although the tax withholding is at a higher rate because of the lump sum, your overall taxes are going to be based on your annual earnings. If too much was withheld because of the lump sum rules, you will get a refund.
That is small consolation for people who have just had their jobs ripped out from under them, and doesn’t help your cash flow, particularly now that you have been laid off. Yes, a company with a heart might have done this differently to minimize the pain, but that company doesn’t exist any longer.
I saw the writing on the wall and got out a few years ago, and read these posts when the news hit. Good luck with the job search.
I was told by HR that the severance will come in weekly installments direct deposited in my checking. I specifically asked if it was going to be a LUMP SUM and they said no. Vacation pay and personal time was pro-rated and deposited in one installment, but as far as I was told, the severance will be weekly.
J was not covered medically through them, so no.
Lump sum?
Did they take out your medical also?