I was offered a position in another Sam's Club, but the pay is lower (by quite a bit) than my current one. I'd rather take my chances and look elsewhere once we close, but somebody told me that if I refuse the job, I will not be eligible to receive my severance. Is this true? Even if the offer came from the other store's GM in a semi-official manner?
I'm truly lost at what to do right now.
You are absolutely right. I had the same conversation with HR in HO and they told me the same. I was in a position where I had an offer for x86 and then another potential offer of x87. But, i was told you choose one and if you get an offer letter and you reject it there will be no severance
You will get your severance long as you work all the way till you last day. They can offer you a job but it must be the same level and same pay that comparable to your current job as well the same local area to your commute to work
Actually, your base wage would not be affected in this situation. The reason the system shows a decrease in pay is because job resturctures/eliminations involving demotions require a manual pay adjustment. Your PTC (or new PTC) would need to contact the HO wages department in order to have it adjusted.
Unfortunately, a lot of managers and PTCs don't know about this policy. If you would like to view the policy yourself, it is in the Associate Pay Plan FYE 2018 (pg 39 - Restructures (Reorganizations & Job/Club Eliminations)) on the WIRE.
Also, if you do a WIRE search for "club closings", you should see a link to a document titled "Walmart U.S. Stores Packet - Supporting Sam's Club Associates and Members in Nearby Impacted Locations. This packet contains some more info regarding transferring to other clubs and stores. The section "Sam's Club Hourly Associate Guidlines " on page 4 has information regarding wages.
I know this information because I was impacted by a job elimination not too long ago. I spoke with my Club GM and PTC multiple times about it, because I had seen the policy. They both told me I would lose pay. I then had my PTC contact the HO wages dept on speaker phone with me in the room and they confirmed that I was right. Went down 2 levels, maintained my TL pay.
Talk to the HR people from home office they have on your club. If they left then call HR. They will give you the only real advice so you don’t lose your severance package.
You do not keep same pay if you take a lower pay grade job! Go in job ptrference put in the job you are looking at and you will see new pay amt. mine would have been just slightly less than 2$ (1.96 to be exact) an hour no matter what I did. Only lateral move keeps the same pay. If you go from a 7 to 5 you will lose money Moving to a different market entirely could make a difference. Not every market pays the same or it used to be that way.
Are you an hourly Sam's associate being offered a different hourly position at another Sam's? If so, your pay should remain the same, unless there are market, fresh, or overnight differentials. When you're job is eliminated, your base pay remains the same even if you accept a job at a lower pay level.
I was in the layoff of the Audit Team last year. I called the team at the home office that was set up to help answer all the questions you have. They told me to go into your jobs that you may interested in and remove your preferences, leaving it blank. They told me if you are offered one of your job preferences and you turn it down that could nullify your severance package. Their advice, if you think you might want to take the severance deal to make sure you do this.
If you're offered a position the same level and title as your previous position and refuse it then you won't get a severance package, but if you're offered a position that's a lower level and you refuse it then you will get a severance package, simple as that.
As long as you work up until your last day and you dont sign a job offer you should still get your severance pay.
Not if it was informal conversation. Just watch who you talk to