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Company closing
I am a registered nurse. I just quit my job of 12 years for employment at a new facility, started March 21st. I was to get a $15,000 sign on bonus and $5200 per year for tuition every year. I needed to work 6 months before the tuition reimbursement benefit kicked in. I have already started pursuing Walden university for my degree advancement, in hopes of starting in the fall. Yesterday while at work a meeting was called, we were informed the hospital will close in 60 days. I am devastated, I feel that corporate knew this was coming for awhile and they shouldn’t have hired new employees. All other employees are getting severance payments but I get nothing as I was only employed for approximately 30 days. I am very upset I quit my job of 12 years and now am unemployed. This can’t be fair, I feel as if I deserve the same severance pay as others that have been there 12 years. As the neglectfully had my lose my employment of 12 years.
Asked on April 25, 2019 under Employment Labor Law, Wisconsin
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 4 years ago | Contributor
No, it is not fair, and you do deserve more: unfortunately, the law does not enforce fairness. Severance pay is not required by law--there is no legal right to it. It is 100% pay voluntary on the part of employers to offer severance pay; if they choose to offer it, they have 100% discretion on whom to offer it to and are not required to offer it to all employees. So they don't have to offer you severance pay if they don't want to.
The law does not make it illegal to offer someone a job when the employer knows they are or may be closing; since it was legal for them to do this, there is no recourse against the hospital for hiring you when they should have known that the job would be temporary at best.
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