Team members are notified during a meeting with their manager only. HR is NEVER present for these discussions. EVER. After that meeting with the manager, a Fedex package will be shipped overnight or second day from the Displacement Services team to TM's home address if they do not have your personal email address. NEVER does the package get sent/emailed prior to the conversation with the manager. EVER.
Remember, if you are over 40, your employer must allow you:
• at least 21 days to review an offer if you were terminated individually, or
• at least 45 days to review an offer if you were terminated as part of a larger layoff.
Either way, you have seven days to revoke your agreement to the settlement offer even after you have signed it.
Wells Fargo uses a company called “The Work Number” for severance and checking to see if u got a job.
WARN requires 60 days’ notice if an employer has 100 or more and is planning on laying off 50 or more in one location. So, in a general sense, 60 days is not required by law for all. Like a lot of companies, though, WF makes it easier by just applying a blanket 60 days to every situation and then stipulates if all, some, or none of that requires the employee to actually do any work.
During those 60 days, you are not prohibited from seeking employment or leaving on your own, and you actually can still get fired for misdeeds that contradict WF policies. So, you're not tied at all and can still hunt for a job. If you find one in that period, you can report it back to the company (effectively resigning and forfeiting salary continuation) or keep it quiet and double-dip. After the 60-day period is up if you let the company know that you found a job with benefits, you can get a lump sum of the remaining salary continuation period. Before 60 days there is no lump.
But here is where i do like Wells. All they "owe" me is a 60 day notice of job loss if my layoff meets the terms of WARN, and nothing more. But by not having to work those 60 days and also getting the extra 26 weeks after that they are helping in a bad situation, or I can move on immediately if I wanted to.
We (managers) all go thru "Layoff training" (it’s in learning center, and you can take the course too).
Generally speaking, you are given a script and there are guidelines of what you can and cannot say.
You are offered the booklet with documents to sign (and don’t sign until you talk to a lawyer).
There is usually a package offered. Most people sign immediately because they do not understand that this bank is in hot doo doo and it's the first offer to make you go away quietly.
If you lawyer up - ya, it costs money, but very worth it - you can turn a 6 months' severance package into a 12 months' severance package by having counsel manage communications with the bank for you.
The LAST thing this bank wants right now with all this regulatory scrutiny is press catching wind of a legal case against the bank for some kind of employment law issue.''
You have about 45 days to sign before you lose benefit.
And if you are in a protected class (race, color, religion, s-x (including pregnancy, se-ual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age (40 or older), disability) and given notice of termination, you have even MORE legal rights.
Anyone facing a layoff - hire a lawyer. You might pay $2000 or $3000 in legal costs, but you can end up with over $40,000 more in your severance package than what was first offered.
Remember that in life EVERYTHING in business is negotiable. If the bank can afford to pay chainsaw over $20,000,000 per year, they can afford to pay you a better severance package.
Quick Tips to survive Wells Fargo layoffs
- Keep a detailed personal file regarding your work activities and put in it
everything that comes up that seems out of sorts etc. We will use the information
in your file to build a case against your employer in the event you are terminated.
- NEVER sign any agreement presented to you at work until you have it
reviewed by an employment attorney. Many people do not think about the future
impact these agreements will have on them, as they just want the job in the present.
- ALWAYS attempt to negotiate every agreement presented to you.
- ALWAYS request a termination for cause when you get hired. If you do not,
your employer will assert you are an at-will employee with no protections against
termination. You have the right to request additional job protections from your
employer.
- ALWAYS determine if your company has a severance plan and not a policy.
You need to know what is available on the backend in case you are terminated and
you will need income to transition between jobs
- NEVER sign a non-compete agreement and if forced to sign one demand
substantial money for signing it. We admonish employers who force these stupid
self-serving agreements on all employees and we are successful in removing many
of them.
- NEVER sign a severance agreement that contains a non-compete clause for the
first time. If you never had one before, never restrict your ability to find the right
job for you. Contact a lawyer and they will make sure the non-compete is removed from the severance agreement.
- ALWAYS ask for a year and a half of severance and negotiate your way down.
- ALWAYS document your side of the facts in every performance improvement
plan. You can use an email or word document or both. Do not accept the
employer’s statement that you cannot submit a response in their system.
- PIPs (Performance Improvement Plans) are used to terminate your
employment and no one ever survives them. Wake up and realize you are being
sandbagged by your employer.
- Remember to watch for the “writing on the wall” that your employer may be
setting you up for termination. Many people ignore the initial signs in hopes they
can improve the working relationship. You would be better served speaking to an
employment attorney to conduct a severance negotiation on your behalf and
conducting a new job search on company time.
- ALWAYS negotiate a severance agreement and never sign one without do so
using an employment attorney, either directly with the employer or behind the
scenes.
- No, your employer cannot ask your age during a job interview, it’s illegal.
- When you become sick or injured, always request FMLA leave, plus a
reasonable accommodation in the form of a “paid disability leave” under the ADA,
and file a claim for short term disability benefits- ALL AT THE SAME TIME.
- NEVER confide in Human Resource personnel, they are not friends, and have
a legal duty only to the employer. But if you need to file a complaint with HR, do
it in writing via email; emails are time and date stamped for record keeping
purposes.
- ALWAYS ask a trusted colleague for a job reference and get something on a
letterhead before you leave.
- If you file for unemployment but have yet to sign a severance agreement, do
not answer the question on the unemployment application that you have received a severance.
- Only disclose your physical or mental disability until after you have been
hired, if at all, but never before.
- If you are fired for cause by your employer or you quit your employment,
you are not entitled to unemployment or severance benefits.
- ALWAYS hire an employment lawyer and do not second guess yourself. The Investment will be worth the return.
- Packages are being offered to SOME (not all) people who satisfy the "Rule of 60". If your age plus your years of service adds up to 60, you MIGHT be getting a package.
- Being offered to a SMALL number of people. This is very limited in scope, and is being done for the purposes of generating metrics, so that if they later offer packages to larger numbers of people then management will have a better idea of what percentage of those people will accept the package or not.
- There are market locations for expansion and there are others for core. They have been listed here before and change all the time it seems:
- Atlanta
Boston
Charlotte
Chicago
Dallas
Denver
Des Moines
India
Los Angeles
Minneapolis
New York Metro
Philly
Phoenix
Portland
Raleigh
Richmond
Salt Lake
San Antonio
San Francisco
St Louis
Washington, DC
Winston
- The 401k match is on December 15th.
Last but not least, they laid me off at the age of 61 in Tech. I had a tad bit more than 7 months on severance. I lawyered up, that ended up me getting 14 and a half months of severance. I ended up ahead on the deal. Yes, it took more work as its really easy to sign on the dotted line but was worth it and fast. I mean it wasn't like I was doing anything during my 60-day notice, so wtf I thought. I also live in a state that allowed me to double dip with SS while getting severance.
Good luck all