Thread regarding Anthem Inc. layoffs

Hello again my ex fellow Anthem ... I mean Elevance colleagues ... :) ... just wanted to give everyone a quick update on my current situation since I was RIF'ed last Sept of 2022. Well it's been more than 6 months now so my severance pay have completed and I tell you it is so nice having to continue to get paid for doing absolutely nothing even if it's just for 6 months. So for those of you who are eligible for the severance pay and contemplating on voluntarily leaving, my advise is don't .. hang in there and just take it day by day. Anyway, for now I'm collecting Unemployment and I believe this will be for another 6 months so can't complain on that as well.

I will turn 62 next year and I plan to take my SSS benefit so with my Elevance pension plus SSS ... my retirement should just be fine :)

Oki Dok .. for those of you still grinding and hustling within the toxic environment of Elevance ... just hang in there and there is always light at the other end ... just do what is expected of you and nothing more ... don't be a hero and ki-l yourself working with this company .. believe me .. hard work and loyalty is no longer rewarded especially by this company ..

Later then ... :)

Hello again everyone .. well am on my 2nd week now from my abrupt separation with the company. Have to be honest, it’s still weird waking every morning and not having to do any meetings or work … but can’t complain.

BTW .. the severance team have finally informed me that I no longer have to do weekly attestation and I also don’t need to file for unemployment. The company will just pay me the whole severance so that was really one good news.

So .. I suppose this will be my last post here and hope the best for all of you still out there doing there daily grinds working for the company.

Hang in there guys .. try not to work too hard coz they don’t give out medals anymore ..

Hello .. last Friday was my last day with the company and am still waiting on the RIF Team to send me the final instructions on how my severance pay is going to be handled. Apparently there is a way where I can forgo filing unemployment and receive full severance and no need to attest. I believe this is available to me since I’m at retirement age of 55 with over 10 yrs of service. Will update everyone as soon as I get the info.

@OP+1iaDP0Hk Any update on the following? "Now am just trying to find out if I still need to attest that am still actively seeking employment for them to pay me my supplemental severance money .." Knowing Irrelevance Health, I am sure you are having to jump through the hoops required by your state unemployment rules to get the supplemental pay. Submitted by someone who also qualifies for retirement that may get caught up in the normal Fall layoffs.....

Hi everyone ..

its me again .. sorry have not had a chance to post any updates … anyway.. here are the latest regarding my very colorful exit from this wonderful company ..
I reached out to HR asking if I choose the Resign by voluntary retirement would I still be getting my RIF severance .. guess what .. they actually Thanked me for reaching out to HR about this since they wr not aware about this and said this was not the right process and blamed it on the new website re-design.

HR told me I don’t have to do anything regarding retirement, it will just happen automatically meaning if I’m at retirement age they will just send me my retirement package and It’s ip to me on what to do with it next.

Must admit, HR personel are really being very helpful and considerate of my situation.

Now am just trying to find out if I still need to attest that am still actively seeking employment for them to pay me my supplemental severance money ..

Will let u guys know

Get RIFd and go through your 26 (or however many you are eligible for) weeks of severance pay. Then put in for retirement after that and take your pension. I was RIFd in August 2020 when Anthem moved approximately 600 IT jobs to IBM along with a handful of Anthem associates. The very day after my severance period ended, Anthen retired me and all I had to do was put in for my pension (after selecting my retirement gift). I recommend not doing anything with your retirement application at this time unless you can designate that it will begin sometime after the date your severance ends.

OP…Smells like a setup to me. They want you to voluntarily retire to avoid paying severance.
I don’t believe they will allow you to get both. They probably consider it “double dipping”
Keep in mind the if the elephants cans save a nickel by treating their hardworking employees unfairly they will. And give zero f***s doing so.

Hello Fellow Anthem and Ex Anthem folks :) .. sorry but I finally got a reply back from HR and they confirmed at my age and time of service that am eligible to get the Retirement package. But in the email from HR .. I got this instuction:

"Please process your retirement in Workday by going to your profile > selection actions under your name on the left side > job change > resign >primary reason: voluntary, retirement. This request will begin your retirement process."

Hmm ... they are asking me to choose Resign and voluntary retirement as the reason ..

If I do this, does this mean am voluntarily leaving and will no longer be eligible for the 6 months severance pay ? Does anybody know?

I did reach out to my HR Rep and she did say that despite this Retirement option, I'm still eligible for the severance since I was being RIF'ed .. but wanted to throw this out there to get some of your thoughts and suggestions.

This is messed up ...

@9iuw+1iaDP0Hk Beautification, lol. I don't think we heard an update from ' finally happened ' hope we hear something. But yes although you are retirement eligible they conveniently don't mention that. I think the ones getting close to the 55/10 ( 55 years and 10 years of service) where it's applicable and under certain terms they typically will. Just be informed

I'm not sure if this is still the case but in the past if you were gone for a few years you could come back and "bridge your time". After you come back and have worked for the same number of years as you were gone your time is bridged and all your years of service count. You might want to check with HR about it.

Best beatification that this company can do in one's life. After serving for 25 years, letting the people go tagging under performance gives a feel like they sucked enough from you.

Really sorry for this and I feel proud that I'm not part of Elephant health anymore. It is not a great place to work for anymore

@9xyy+1iaDP0Hk If you qualify for retirement based on age and years of service and you are riffed, what leverage do you have to fight for a lump sum payment of the supplemental/separation pay? Unbelievable that any long term employee has to fight the company for any benefit...!!! If you win the battle of retirement designation instead being riffed, is there still a 25 page contract document that you have to sign to receive the supplement payout? We have to put up with enough cr-p while working there and trying to get our jobs done.....

As to broken service, it depends if they gave your years of service back when you came back whether they count or not. If you did contract work at Anthem/WellPoint/Anthem/Elephant those years do not count.

As to the pension, check out the tax laws if you want to attempt to get the whole sum at once.

@5vnl+1iaDP0Hk TIA, were you ever a contractor? The years can't have over a year break I believe is the rule. Is it different if you leave voluntarily and come back in a year may or may not qualify They won't count contracting. But please ask HR

Hi Tia .. not too sure .. I suppose it depends how long u wr gone from the company when u came back. I think if u wr gone less than a year they will not consider that as a break in service. But I would consider sending an email to HR asking about this so you can have a definite answer …
Hope this helps.
From a soon to be ex Associate ..

Anyone know if broken service time (25 years in total) is applied to retirement calculation? 64 with 8 current years of active time, but have a little over 25 in total if you add it all up.
I cant help but think my number will be pulled at some point.
Any idea? TIA

@5cxe+1iaDP0Hk.. welcome to corporate America. Yes it is true. As the person said, there was no mention of being retirement eligible. Never be ashamed to ask for what's yours. Be in the know..

I have worked for a lot of companies over the years, and this is the first company I have encountered where they don't want you to know what your benefits are so you can't use them. Just unbelievable..... Or either I have been reporting to some really lousy managers since being hired.....

Me again ..

hi gang .. I reached out to my HR Rep today regarding my pending HR Request regarding my Retirement inquiry and she said HR is swamped at the moment and usually not able to respond to inquires until 5 Business days. She did say if I don’t hear back from HR by End of Week to let her know and she will try to expedite the process.

I do have some money in the Pension Plan that I have access upon retirement so that helps.

Will keep you guys posted.

Thanks again for everyone’s help .. it does ease some of the pain away …

Will to get your pension? You are eligible for the pension package based on age and over 10 years with the company. This just sucks.

@1iev+1iaDP0Hk that's awesome. It is a different group of people, different links etc. You did get some good answers here. I do believe you do get to pick a gift. Does make exiting under a bit better terms.. Blessings keep us posted .

Hello again everyone ..

This is what HR responded on my inquiry.

"Anyone who is 55 and has 10 years of service is retirement eligible. What that means is for 2022 you will be AIP eligible. "

And HR pointed me to a link where I can submit an HR Request to look further into my Retirement Eligibility and they will be the one who will guide me on next steps if I do decide to choose Retirement.

Thank you guys ... all these guidance you have been so kind sharing with me is really much appreciated. Hope I can personally thank each and everyone of you and give everyone a big hug ... :) ... for now I will just pay things forward and share whatever I learn going to this process to make it easier for anybody else who might be next ..

Am sure I will not be the last Anthem associate to go through this ..

Will keep everyone posted as I take this journey :)

Double check the current rules.
Rules from the past (perhaps they still are applicable):
With your age and years of service, you would have qualified to retire in the past (55 yrs + 15 yrs of service).
If you did retire, you could get a pro-rated AIP.
If you were 62 or older, you would get the full severance without need to prove you were trying to find another job.
Retiring gets you a watch
Also with your service, you qualify to get insurance.
I am not saying these are good or bad, just the way things were.
I was part of the group who's jobs got swept out to IBM 2 years ago. I believe I still have all the documents I was given. I will read through them when I get a chance.

Hello people .. I have sent out an email to the HR Rep just now inquiring about the Retirement Option/Package if it is still available for me to take. Will post here as soon as I hear back from HR.

BTW .. am a Developer advisor .. not sure what pay grade I’m at .. but I do know of Solutions Engineers let go in the past that also did not have to show proof of actively looking for a Job to get their full salary benefits for 6 mos.

I definitely dont have stock options.

You definitely should qualify for retirement benefits. Call HR to be sure you're getting everything you're entitled to. I was RIF'd in late 2019 when I was 66 with 17 years experience. I didn't even contact HR but they automatically treated me as 'Retirement Eligible'. For me, that meant:

1. I got full severance without having to show proof I was collecting Unemployment and actively looking for another job.
2. I got a catalogue of retirement gifts I could choose (actually, fairly generous)
3. I was at a pay grade where I got some company stock options. Being retirement eligible, I got to keep all the unvested options and collected on them as they vested.

Again, I didn't do anything to reach out to HR - it just happened. But, it absolutely can't hurt to contact HR.

@1tje+1iaDP0H please do it's a game changer. Of course the paper work isn't going to say anything you have to
say something. They're banking on people not knowing. Let me know how it goes. You won't be sorry Do it in writing

Hmmm .. first thing tomorrow .. i will reach out to HR and ask about this Retirement Option .. I read the package they sent me and there is no mention about it anywhere.

Hoping more people will read my post and offer more needed guidance to one of their fellow soon to be ex colleague.

Thanks again …

@@klm+1iaDP0Hk, your IT friend here again. I highly recommend you respond to their email so it is. In writing saying you want to execute your retirement package/ benefits. In your post you said 60 and 25 years that very much qualifies do NOT let that go to waste. Wish I knew you so we could chat, but watch this blog maybe someone will respond. Blessings my friend

@@klm+1iaDP0Hk our IT friend, I too am in IT so I feel your pain. I have advised many people to take the retirement option, HR WIll Not tell you you are eligible for retirement. please trust me on this. I wouldn't be posting it. But I am still here so hopefully someone who reads this blog and has been there can chime in . Elevance will benefit . Just make sure your in the 'know'

Hello Post ID: @uwf+1iaDP0Hk .. do I really have to tell HR I want to execute my Retirement Benefits ? Or is that something I can just do on my own ...

For all of those who have gone thru this, I really need all the advise I can get .. this is my first time being laid off and just want to not make any unnecessary mistakes :)

Anyway .. I work with IT ... not sure who else was given their notices in my Department today but if I were a betting man, I would bet mostly Anthem associates would be the likely candidates. I do believe they are positioning IT to be all from LEGATO where the company is saving a lot of money.

Over the recent years the number of Legato associates have dramatically increased in IT compared to Anthem associates.

I won't be surprised if the next Company name change in the future will be from Elevance to Legato ...

Kind a feel sorry for the people here in the States that are just starting their careers in IT.

To @OP+1iaDP0Hk Finally happened. Well I'm sorry or congrats not sure which way to go for you. You may already know, but tell the HR people you want to execute your Retirement benefits, before you sign anything. 25 years you may be eligible don't let Elevance walk away with any of your money. Best of luck to you. . if you don't mind what area were you working in. You don't have to answer that . Best of luck to you.