Employee Rights in a Layoff

Protecting Employee Rights in Cases of Layoff and Termination

Have you been told you will laid off in the near future? Has your employer terminated your position? Being laid off or fired can be one of the most stressful and difficult times in a person's life. It can create a multitude of worries, including:

• How will I support my family and myself?
• Am I entitled to severance pay?
• How will I pay for medical insurance or health care? What are my rights to COBRA?
• Am I vested in my stock options or 401K plan?
• Was I fired or laid off because of my pregnancy, age, race or disability?

To discuss any of these questions or other issues related to employee rights in a layoff, call 415-692-0462 or 866-590-6082, or contact us online.

At the Armstrong Law Firm, we work hard to protect the rights of employees in San Francisco, and throughout Northern California. If you've been laid off, our employment lawyers can help you assess your situation and review your severance agreement. We will then evaluate your options and help you make the best of a bad situation.

Helping You Negotiate the Best Severance Package Possible

Employees don't always have a right to severance pay. While severance policies vary from employer to employer, many pay a certain number of weeks of wages per year of employment. We know how to maximize the amount of a severance package and protect employee rights in a layoff.

Our lawyers also know how to effectively negotiate with employers in an effort to get them to provide other benefits at the end of an employment relationship, including:

• Payment of health insurance premiums under COBRA laws (Under recent legislation, you may be entitled to have 65% of your COBRA insurance premiums paid following a layoff)
• Larger separation package or increased severance pay
• Job placement services
• Letters of recommendation and job references
• Payment of unused vacation and paid time off

Reviewing Stock Options and Employment Agreements

If you had stock options as part of your compensation package, it is important that you review the vesting date. The date of vesting can trigger a 90-day deadline to purchase the stock or lose your options. Our attorneys know how to review stock options, and will examine dates, numbers, strike price and other factors in order to maximize the financial benefits for employees. When necessary, we work to negotiate more time to exercise stock options.

Evaluating Your Layoff for Discrimination, Retaliation or Unfair Treatment

Employers have been known to use a layoff as a means of illegally discriminating against certain employees. For example, a manager may target employees on FMLA or pregnancy leave in a layoff, wrongly thinking that since they aren't working, they should be laid off first. Employers may also include certain employees in a layoff because of disability discrimination, sex and gender discrimination, age discrimination or race discrimination. We evaluate the layoff and investigate whether it was fair, discriminatory, or used for illegal retaliation.

Employee Rights to Notice of Layoff Under the WARN Act

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires certain businesses to provide a 60 day written notice to employees in the case of a plant closing or mass layoff. If the notice is not given, employees are entitled to the back pay and benefits they would have earned during the notice period. In effect, the WARN Act can force payment of up to 60 days of severance pay if an employer fails to warn employees of an impending layoff.

Payment of Final Wages — Wage and Hour Claims

In California, employers must pay all wages due to the employee at the time employment is terminated. If the employer doesn't pay all wages, bonuses, accrued vacation and commissions on time, the employee may receive waiting time penalties. We handle all types of wage and hour claims on behalf of employees, including class action lawsuits for groups of employees.

To find out more about the legal services we offer laid off employees, contact our San Francisco law firm today.

For tips on protecting your rights as an employee, read TEN STEPS TO TAKE IF YOU ARE FIRED OR LAID OFF.