#employeerights

It feels like the TV show Survivor, right?

were you forced to get it to keep your job?

if so did management/HR push this upon you?

i keep hearing people were forced to get vaccinated.

Has anyone else had a problem with Cigna not scheduling your legally entitled rest breaks? I have had many conversations with my manager about this, and they continue to not give me rest breaks. I have filed a complaint with my state's BOLI 6 months ago, and they have not investigated yet. Am I the only one?

Does PTO get paid out with severance?

A recent study analyzed worker risks across the United States. Affordable Contractors Insurance conducted the comprehensive report. Mississippi ranked eighth among states with the biggest risks for workers. Factors included high layoff rates, low wages, and limited unemployment benefits. The state also lacks paid sick leave and family leave laws.

Biloxi, Mississippi

https://amp.sunherald.com/news/local/article315646434.html

If I leave Optum voluntarily, do I forfeit all my PTO or do they have to pay out what I accrued? Based in Minnesota.

Do P4 lead software engineers need to give 1 month notice?

do you think we should get fully vested in a layoff situation? I only have a few months left until my 5-year anniversary, and I see that only 60% of it is vested

If you are fired, please do the below analysis on this doc you get: Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA)

If you are older than 40 (or 50?) years old, you should get a OWBPA document (it shows ages and job titles of the fired people). MAKE SURE to save it locally immediately!!! If you view it and then leave the page, the document will show as read and you may not be able to access it again (at least that happened to me). You may be able to get GEMINI to help you do the analysis (turn AI against big dirty red!).

My guess it would be eye opening (to a judge:)) to see the breakout/comparison of job title and age for higher paying jobs (engineering and technology) versus job titles and age for lower paying jobs (help desk, admin assistants, etc..). Would not be surprising to see this output - just as an example of what might be uncovered: 50 people that are 55+ years old fired and all in high paying jobs.... and then another 50 people that are 20 to 35 years old and all in lower paying jobs (and MUCH easier to backfill or put a contractor in later). If you just looked at ages, you would say it looks ok. But, if you included wages, AND job titles, you would see a definite bias in the example.

TIAA facing a federal lawsuit from a former wealth advisor who says he was pushed out after seeking disability accommodations.

Phillip Pham, who spent nearly a decade at the financial services giant, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on February 16, 2026, alleging the firm violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and Michigan's Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act. The case, which stems from an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filing on June 10, 2025, seeks compensatory and punitive damages, along with attorneys' fees.

Pham joined TIAA in November 2015 as a wealth advisor and, according to the filing, built himself into one of the firm's top performers — consistently ranking in the top ten in product sales and accumulating almost $900 million in assets. That track record, the lawsuit argues, did not insulate him from what he describes as discrimination after a series of concussions forced him to ask for workplace adjustments.

The filing lays out three concussions — in 2016, around September 2021, and on July 13, 2023. The first left Pham with memory loss, delayed speech and impaired mental processing. After the third, his physician determined that his symptoms mirrored the severity of the 2016 episode and recommended reduced hours for one month, a gradual return to a full-time schedule and blue screen protection on his equipment.

According to the lawsuit, TIAA did not reduce Pham's workload to make the shorter hours feasible and did not officially approve the reduced schedule until early 2024. Even then, the filing states, Pham still carried more clients and higher asset amounts than other wealth advisors at the firm.

What followed, the lawsuit alleges, was a series of moves that systematically undercut Pham's ability to succeed. His Wealth Director, Theresa Serafimovski, allegedly issued a written warning on July 19, 2024, tied in part to symptoms of his condition. The filing claims he was told to hit 100 percent of his performance targets within weeks — despite a prior agreement setting the bar at 85 percent. That higher standard, the lawsuit says, was not placed on his colleagues.

Perhaps most striking for industry observers: the filing alleges Pham was the only wealth advisor not invited to TIAA's client referral system — described in the lawsuit as the only way advisors could source new business and grow their books. The firm reportedly attributed his exclusion to workload concerns, but Pham argues it effectively cut off his pipeline for external revenue.

On August 16, 2024, Pham submitted another physician's note recommending a reduced client load and that he avoid working through dinners. He spoke briefly with someone in human resources, according to the filing, but heard nothing back. Two months later, on October 15, 2024, he was called into a meeting with Human Resources Director Ashley Bigham and Human Resources Manager Kristin Johnson. He was terminated during that meeting, and his accommodation request was scuttled.

Since leaving TIAA, Pham took a business manager role at Washtenaw Christian Academy from January to May 2025, earning $55,000 annually, before launching his own life insurance venture, Phamily Phinancial Group, in June 2025. He says he has not yet been able to collect unemployment.

The case is in its earliest stages. TIAA has not yet responded, and no court rulings have been issued. But the lawsuit lands at a moment when large wealth management firms face increasing scrutiny over how they handle accommodation requests and whether internal performance systems inadvertently penalize advisors returning from medical leave. For compliance teams and firm leadership, the allegations — if they hold up — could underscore the legal risks embedded in everyday management decisions, from referral access to equipment upgrades to how time off is tracked.

Did any FTS folks get the axe?

They got rid of the mandatory furlough just a few weeks before the sh-t hit the fan. In retrospect, that feels very telling. Make the contractors work every holiday now that they canned everyone else.

And no amount of OT you can chase is ever going to make up for the $30k bonus that other dude got last year — while also getting paid vacation time and holidays with his family instead of toiling away like some bottom feeder. That’s how they see us. Disposable labor.

Don’t let them take your soul. Do whatever you can to let the contract lapse and collect unemployment if possible. Use this as a runway to get the fu-k out.

And if you’re FTS and got laid off:
How many years were you there?
Did you get any kind of package?
Or were you just completely SOL?

Because in FTS land, contractors are treated like the trash beneath the trash pile — completely disposable.

My contract is up in a few months, and I’m wondering whether they’re just going to let contracts lapse or try to force all of us into full-time RTO without any increase in pay or benefits.

They need to pay me more to be onsite full time, and their legalese is not magically going to protect them. Up until literally last week, leadership messaging was that we would never be required back full time. That was the understanding many people accepted when agreeing to these roles.

Use this moment as your runway:
Ask for more.
Push back.
Or safely get the fu-k out of this shell game.

The longer you stay in contractor land, the more years of your life you are tossing into the fire.

They will never voluntarily give you benefits, vacation time, a 401(k) match, or meaningful raises. And if, by some miracle, you finally get a conversion opportunity, they’ll often lowball you so hard that you either:

1.  Stay a contractor out of necessity, or
2.  Convert while feeling deeply resentful and underpaid.

Someone I know was there for over five years:
• Underpaid
• No vacation
• No bonus
• No 401(k) match
• No raises, not even cost-of-living increases
• Overtime never approved
• Still expected onsite the same amount as FTEs

And when they finally tried to convert, the offer was reportedly so low it felt insulting and demoralizing.

Do not get trapped in contractor land.

FTS feels like a shell game, and honestly, a lot of this starts raising real questions about worker classification and fairness. Massachusetts has strict contractor laws and the ABC test for a reason.

If people feel they are being misclassified or denied lawful compensation, they should absolutely consider speaking with an employment attorney or contacting the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office Fair Labor Division to understand their rights.

Also, if contractors are truly separate workers through a staffing agency, it raises questions when internal skip-level managers are effectively controlling compensation conversations while simultaneously claiming they cannot know contractor pay details.

Like any contracting arrangement, if someone is making $50/hour and the vendor is billing dramatically more for that labor, there should be room for fair treatment, annual increases, and basic respect for long-term workers.

At some point, companies have to stop treating experienced contractors like permanently temporary people.

ProTip: In MA you can file a complaint with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office Fair Labor Division, and enough people reporting similar sh-t can absolutely trigger a larger investigation into misclassification or wage violations.

And honestly? Use AI to help draft it. Why spend hours stressing over wording when you can dump your timeline into ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot and have a solid draft in 4 minutes.

File here: MA AG Workplace Complaint Form

Any folks experienced the process of being impacted while on vacation? How would you know?

I was RIFd yesterday, and I see that severance only pays out unused regular PTO, not protected PTO.

They really pushed employees to NOT use protected PTO as it is meant for illness and other unintended absence. I had built up quite a bit of it, and used regular PTO almost always.

Now I’m thinking the reconfiguration of PTO was more about cost savings than anything else. I was not aware that protected PTO would be forfeited or I would have used that first and foremost.

Very sneaky move Medtronic.

Has anyone heard if CSS in brokerage is being impacted? If so, do you know what sites? I’d like to think not as they just told us RTO is coming and I don’t see how an immediate RIF makes sense when it’s clear they want to see people quit rather than RTO. It’s also a client facing inbound role for managed accounts. But, with all the changes the last couple years aimed at attrition and seemingly preparing for this moment, who knows…

Side question, if someone is laid off and has unvested shares, do they pay those out to any degree?

• Did you receive any severance?
• Or were you asked to resign without severance?
• Were you able to qualify for unemployment (especially if you lived a long distance away, e.g., 100+ miles)?

Once you hit a certain age, they start looking for reasons to push you out. I've seen it happen to three people in my team. They treat older workers like garbage.

Has anyone got their severance payment or know when we can expect it? Single parent and trying to budget accordingly

If you’re currently involved in a dispute over unfair dismissal or the company’s illegal practices, it might be difficult to answer here.
I think what the company fears most is having multiple dismissed employees file lawsuits alleging illegal conduct, which would prevent the downsizing plan from going through.

https://www.hcamag.com/us/specialization/employment-law/ex-manager-says-wells-fargo-cut-her-two-days-before-maternity-return/573568

If they want me gone, they’re going to have to pay me for it. I’m not playing along with this RTO-driven attrition strategy. Hopefully people see it for what it is and don’t just hand them what they want.

Employment is an at-will state (except for Montana).

The Employer or Employee can terminate Employment at any time.

THEY'RE MAKING YOU TRAIN YOUR REPLACEMENT. USE AI, USE AI, USE AI, USE AI, USE AI, USE AI, USE AI, USE AI, USE AI, USE AI, USE AI, USE AI, USE AI, USE AI, USE AI, USE AI, USE AI, USE AI, USE AI, USE AI, USE AI, USE AI. INCREASE YOUR USAGE, INCREASE YOUR USAGE, INCREASE YOUR USAGE, INCREASE YOUR USAGE, INCREASE YOUR USAGE, INCREASE YOUR USAGE, INCREASE YOUR USAGE, INCREASE YOUR USAGE.

https://cwa-union.org/

YOUR WHITE COLLAR JOB IS NOT SAFE

If you are on long-term disability for two years, it looks like Wells will let you go. HR said no severance if you are let go for this. Anyone have any experience with receiving severance after being let go due to not returning to work due to disability? HR said my other option is to go on unpaid job search leave. I can't do unpaid. I have bills.

Chinese Courts Rule Companies Cannot Fire Workers Simply to Replace Them With AI
https://www.caixinglobal.com/2026-04-30/chinese-courts-rule-companies-cannot-fire-workers-simply-to-replace-them-with-ai-102439602.html

I think this is great and would force companies to work on long-term solutions to improve their products instead of short term solutions like layoffs which only increase share price to give the executive board more bonuses.

There was a good economics paper on this phenomenon recently:
https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.20617

The TL;DR of this is: companies are financially incentivized to automate as much as they can and it is very hard to change this. But when one company automates and lays off workers, that affects all other companies (since the workers no longer have wages to buy goods and services). If all companies are automating and laying people off, everyone ultimately makes less money.

They propose as the solution what is basically a tax on layoffs: if you lay people off, and those people don't get re-absorbed into the job market at equivalent or better-paying jobs, then you gotta pay the difference in wages as a tax. The money from that tax goes back to the workers (they propose partially for income replacement and partially for retraining).

From what I see, Germany and other vassal states are just copying the US as usual and trying to fire as many employees as possible to show their "AI efficiency". So I expect that SAP won't change their course unless there is intervention from the EU or the state to save the economy when the AI bubble bursts.

Wells Fargo has made it clear moms have no place working here. Which is fine - we’ll just find jobs that allow us to be the primary parent and pick our kids up before dark. I can’t wait to get out.

The Sonoma Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees will meet next week. Trustees are set to consider approving significant employee layoffs. These proposed reductions include certificated and classified positions. The board will also review new union contract agreements. These agreements propose salary increases and a one-time bonus for employees.

Sonoma, California

https://www.sonomanews.com/2026/04/30/votes-on-layoffs-union-contracts-on-sonoma-valley-unified-board-agenda/

To see any law passed in US will take decades, by the time that happens US job markets will be dead and people become poor. Oh well the capitalism.

https://endworkplaceabuse.com/sign-the-petition/?fbclid=IwdGRleARg3x1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeIsqYlwd4AD_VIzZLR5deseQxFfYl7HUWx5MMS1pvv_qVqJS5dfNgrOqx5XY_aem_hRQJ_pRHSlE9TIgjK5h6vw

https://endworkplaceabuse.com/sign-the-petition/?fbclid=IwdGRleARg3x1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeIsqYlwd4AD_VIzZLR5deseQxFfYl7HUWx5MMS1pvv_qVqJS5dfNgrOqx5XY_aem_hRQJ_pRHSlE9TIgjK5h6vw

https://endworkplaceabuse.com/sign-the-petition/?fbclid=IwdGRleARg3x1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeIsqYlwd4AD_VIzZLR5deseQxFfYl7HUWx5MMS1pvv_qVqJS5dfNgrOqx5XY_aem_hRQJ_pRHSlE9TIgjK5h6vw

Do not think about chatbots. Do not think about AI (pick any ChatGPT etc) writing an email or summarizing a meeting.

That is not the real threat.

The real threat is the dozen projects happening behind the scenes that are automating back-office work. Every major consulting company now has platforms for this. They are clunky today, but they are getting better every day.

The question is: what parts of your job can be broken into steps, stitched together, checked by another system, and handed off to an AI agent?

Not every job. Not every task. Not everything a person does in a day.

But the hard parts? The repetitive parts? The parts where you pull data from one system, compare it to another system, create a report, update a case, send a message, escalate an exception, review a document, check a policy, validate a form, summarize an issue, route a request?

That is exactly what they are building.

And it works.

It does not have to be perfect. It only has to remove enough work to reduce headcount. Then humans become reviewers, exception handlers, and cleanup crews. Then the AI gets better. Then the exceptions get smaller. Then the human layer gets thinner.

My guess: we have about 2 years before this starts rolling out more visibly. Around 5 years for a serious ramp. In 10 years, anything in banking that can be automated will be automated.

Every single company in our industry is looking at this. Every single one.

A lawsuit has been filed against Wren Kitchens. This legal action follows recent mass layoffs. The company's job cuts were reportedly abrupt. The lawsuit addresses these sudden terminations. Affected employees were located in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

https://www.audacy.com/wilknews/news/local/lawsuit-filed-against-wren-kitchens-over-abrupt-mass-layoffs-in-nepa

If you are placed on 60 day no work notice. Do you accumulate PTO during that time to be paid out on or catch up to PTO used but not yet accrued? Thanks!

If you were getting a sum of 27k severance pre tax, how much would that be after taxes are taken out? Is it like 19k?

Talk about bait and switch. Left the company and left before my billing cycle was up. They are trying to back charge me for the previous bill and saying because I left during the bill cycle I lost my promos what an unfair business practice to bill promos in arrears when they bill in advance!!!!