Company Downsizing if for the Birds!

[mikang]

Hi all,
My husband went into work Thursday and went on with his regular job and about 11 am was called into the HR office. His boss told him that effective right then he was officially retired! He has worked his butt off for this company for almost 19 years. They said they had to downsize. He is in management and is on a salary, that is why he got the boot. There were two more managers that got early retirement and they were both over 50 just like my husband. They gave him a year severence(sp?) pay, vacation, 401 k, all medical benifits for him, me and our son and life insurance. This is all good, but my husband is 58 and it's going to be really hard for him to find a job. Hubby is so depressed, he is the kind that has to be doing something at all times. He has already started looking for another job. I told him he needed to take about a month or two off, he needs the rest. His job was really stressfull. They deposted his last paycheck on Friday and it is suppose to last us until January. We went to the bank and talked to our loan officer and she said she will give us a loan so we could pay bills the rest of the year. You would think that the company could have let him work until the end of the year since all the holidays are coming up. I have a question if anyone can help me I would appreciate it. I was disabled in 1998 with ssi. Well, I couldn't draw a check because my husband made to much money. Now that he's not working can I try to get my ssi checks? I got my backpay because we were not married yet, I was supposed to get my first check on Nov. 3 and we got married sept. 11 so I never got one. Thanks in advance to anyone that can give me some info. Sorry this was so long!

[nightrider127]

I would at least try. You may be able to get it. SSI is based on family income.
Did the company not give him his severance pay up front? I would think they would have to. Of course if you could hang in there till the first of the year, you would come out way ahead because of the taxes you would have to pay on it. The tax burden will be smaller if you get it in 2004. If you get it now, it will be added as income for 2003 and will cost you several thousand dollars.

[lpelham]

Mikang,

Check into unemployment. My dad was set to retire this past Sept and in June, they announced they were closing his department July 1. He got severance until Sept (fortunately!), but he was also eligible for unemployment even while drawing the severance pay. It might not be much, but anything will help.

I'm sorry this happened. If your finances can afford it, maybe he can find part-time work somewhere in the next year that will lead to full time. I think it is so sad when people lay off workers in their 50's - too young to retire and many places view them as too old to start.

Libby

[MamaFairal]

you have to take a loan out to pay bills and they agve him a years severence pay?
A YEAR???
With severence like that you should be ok for awhile shouldnt you?
Or am i just not understanding severence pay??
And how long is the medical for? LIFE? Or a set period of time?

[PreciousDarlin]

The way I'm reading it is that his severence pay won't start until January and that's why they are in a financial bind until the end of the year. Maybe I'm the one misunderstanding here.

[mikang]

We opted to wait until Jan. 1st to get his severance pay because they would take a bunch out of it if we were to claim it this year. The medical benifits are for life, which is very good.

[Kelsey1224]

If all the people who were laid off were over 50 (or 40 for that matter)...it is possible that they have grounds for an age discrimination class action law suit!

[momfromTN]

I am sorry he lost his job, but you all are sitting pretty compared to a lot of people. My DH lost his job in Dec 2001, after coming back from hernia surgery. No warning, no severance, nothing. Meical Benefits? WOW! I would have been really happy with that. We currently pay $500 a month for medical.

Your DH should check out employment training. He should be able to find something. Also, get an attorney because it sounds like they did discriminate.

[momfromTN]

Also, check out the message boards at www.wahm.com
There are all kinds of work at home jobs there.

[schsa]

It may take him a bit of time but he will find another job. There is a demand for older management people. He may have to compromise his salary which is not what he will want to do but he can get back into the workforce if he wants. He should take his skills and start doing some volunteer work, especially at your local hospitals. You would be amazed at how easy it is to network with people when you see them going in and out of the hospital for tests or just visiting relatives.

Also he needs to start calling everyone that he has done business with or anyone that he has worked for in the past that might have moved on from the company he was retired from. Someone out there might be looking for someone with his skill level and the more he gets his name around the better. Networking is the best way to get a job.

Make him get up every day and go to the library. He needs to make that his office. He should spend at least an hour there every day going through ads and checking on line. He also needs to hook up with your local labor board. You never know what they have and they don't advertise in the local paper for the jobs placed with them.

Don't give up. Things can change very quickly. I know that the severance sucks but at least you will have some income for a while. And make him do the work. Older workers are not obsolete.