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Advice & Opinion

Comcast is cutting 753 jobs by January. If you're laid off this season, do these 7 things first.

Don't sign on the spot, check the WARN math, file for unemployment and protect your health coverage. ACA open enrollment starts today.

Comcast is cutting 753 jobs by January. If you're laid off this season, do these 7 things first.
Stock photo. Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

Comcast told Pennsylvania it will lay off 634 people at its Philadelphia headquarters by the end of the year, and New Jersey another 119 in January, WHYY reported on Oct. 30. Buitoni USA filed a federal notice that it will close its Danville, Virginia, pasta plant on or about Dec. 28, cutting all 251 jobs, three days after Christmas. Dropbox told investors on Oct. 28 that it is cutting about 9% of its global workforce.

That's one week. Comcast's president and co-CEO Michael Cavanaugh called his company's plan "the most significant operating and cost transformation in our company's history," per WHYY. We have covered the Comcast cuts and the signs a layoff is coming. This piece is for the day after, when the notice is in your hand and HR wants a signature by Friday.

Here is what we'd do, in order.

1. Don't sign anything on the spot

A severance agreement is a trade: the company pays you, and you give up your right to sue it. Your employer wrote that deal for itself. Read it at home.

If you're 40 or older and the agreement waives age discrimination claims, federal law gives you time. The EEOC says you get at least 21 days to consider it, or 45 days in a group layoff, plus seven days to revoke after signing. Some states add their own rules; in California, for example, you get at least five business days to consult a lawyer. And yes, severance is often negotiable. Severance.law explains how much to ask for and the red flags to look for.

2. Look at who else got cut

In a group layoff, a waiver of age claims for workers 40 and up only holds if the company gives you, in writing, the job titles and ages of the people selected and not selected in your unit. Read that list. If the cuts land mostly on older workers, that's worth a call to a lawyer before you sign.

3. Do the WARN math

The federal WARN Act covers employers with 100 or more full-time employees. It applies when a site closes and 50 or more people lose their jobs, or when a layoff hits at least 500 people at one site, or at least 50 who make up a third of the staff. Covered companies owe you 60 days' notice. If they skip it, they can owe back pay and benefits for each day they shorted you, up to 60 days. Several states have their own, stricter versions. Check the date on your notice against your last day.

4. Your final paycheck is not a bargaining chip

Wages you've already earned are yours whether or not you sign. Severance should come on top of them. Federal law doesn't require an immediate final paycheck, but some states do. California requires all wages, including accrued vacation, immediately at termination. If your final pay is late, call your state labor department.

5. File for unemployment now

Each state runs its own program, and the Labor Department says to file in the state where you worked as soon as you're out of work. Don't wait until the severance runs out. Whether severance pay delays your benefits depends on your state, so ask the agency when you apply.

6. Don't let your health coverage lapse

If your employer had 20 or more workers, COBRA lets you keep the same plan, but you can be charged up to 102% of its full cost. You get at least 60 days to elect it, and coverage can last 18 months after a layoff.

Losing job-based coverage also opens a 60-day window to buy a Marketplace plan. The timing helps this year: open enrollment started today and runs to Jan. 15 in most states, with Dec. 15 the date to pick a plan for Jan. 1 coverage. Compare both before you choose. Paid COBRA premiums are also something you can ask for in severance talks.

7. Keep copies of your own records

Before your laptop gets wiped, save your personal pay stubs, offer letter, performance reviews and the layoff notice itself. Stick to your own documents. Taking confidential company files can hand your employer a claim against you.

The bottom line

Comcast calls its cuts a transformation. For the people on the list, it's a deadline, and we think a company remaking itself on that scale can afford a fair deal and a few days for you to read it. Take the days the law gives you, and ask for more. If you'd like a lawyer to review your offer, severance.law can help.

Sources

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