It appears an RIF is planned for the coming week at Optum. I’m interested in how this will be carried out, and wonder if they will adhere to the WARN Act. They’ve been sued before, and if I have new found time on my hands….
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/layoffs/warn
@em this is so true it seems to be done just below the threshold for having to report with warn. A few folks here and there
@g6 those who don't have substance to contribute will focus on grammar. 🤣
@g6 all your punctuations are wrong. Sentences end with periods. Your grammar also is all wrong.
@g6 I used to feel that way; then, I married a very smart man with dyslexia who isn’t great at grammar and learned to have some F*CKING COMPASSION.
Take a grammar class - when I get to an error in the first sentence I stop reading
@e9 recent RIF here. Got mine the night before around 8pm for a call first thing the next morning. Different departments and managers can do it differently.
@a4 I give this poster credit. This is very intelligent write up
@OP
They'll never trigger WARN acts. The company is too smart for that earn act discussions is a silly waste of time
@e8 how do you know invites will be sent Thursday morning? A post on this site mentioned ableto staff got them Wednesday night a few weeks ago
I was part of the RIFs at the end of 2025 and yes people in NJ got the 60 day + notice, where we only got the 2 week notice as remote in MN. May people will be getting the RIF invites Thrusday morning.
You can filter on Company for Optum to view the WARN notices in NJ: https://layoffdata.com/data/
Optum Services: Statewide, 49 workers, 2/2-2/19
Optum Care: Statewide, 390 workers, 2/2-3/4
Optum Medical Care: Secaucus, 122 workers, 2/2-3/4
Keep in mind other states and remote roles are also impacted, but don't trigger WARN notices due to not meeting WARN requirements. If they are cutting hundreds in NJ, expect a few thousand in the US.
Warn was posted in nj. Secaucus is getting hit hard and many others this Feb. it’s posted on nj’s government site and has been there for at least 60 days
CAP is the sign you will be let go. You could be let go without a severance package however you will get unemployment if you are fired. They are sneaky about the CAP because they want to document or make up things on you in your records. So remember you could or could not receive severance but you will receive unemployment mostly because they have a bad reputation for letting people go. Getting around warn is the telecommuter position. Since you are wfh you aren’t considered in the office so no warn act needs to be filed.
@cp
Thank you for explaining. While Optum appears to be getting around the WARN Act, I’m guessing state Attorney Generals would be interested in hearing about experiences.
I’ve never been so angered and often ashamed to work for such an organization.
@OP •••Many DFW clinics merging in the next few months. Leadership making their rounds informing clinic teams if their clinic will be closing and merging. Director is saying “Everyone is going and will have a seat on the bus”. I feel for employees if this is their first experience with clinic mergers and believe what they are preaching. Not everyone will get a seat. Many employers will be blindsided. Leadership lacks honesty, integrity and compassion for employees. I’ve lost all respect for my cowardice leadership over the last few years.
When WARN notice is required
Under the federal WARN Act, employers must give at least 60 days’ written notice when:
Siteclosing
A WARN notice is required if:
A single site of employment is permanently or temporarily shut down AND the shutdown results in job loss for 50 or more full-time employees at that site during a 30-day period
Mass layoff
A WARN notice is required if there is a layoff at a single site that results in:
50–499 full-time employees losing jobs and they make up at least 33% of the active workforce at that site
OR
500 or more full-time employees losing jobs at a single site (regardless of percentage)
How “single site” is defined
WARN is generally triggered based on employees at one physical location.
It usually does not aggregate remote workers across different locations unless they are assigned to a specific reporting site.
@c6 WARN applies to employers with 50 or more employees at a specific address. It does not apply to telecommuters as they have unique addresses. It also does not apply when multiple clinics or offices close and each location has fewer than 50 employees. Optum lays off hundreds to thousands of employees every quarter, which seldom requires WARN notices.
@a4 everything is not fine. Optum is a toxic company who enters relationships with toxic customers that won’t survive without their services. Those customers are promised services and in turn get something less than they expect. Everything is minimally viable. In turn, customers get testy and complain, subjecting low level management and front line workers to abuse and unprofessional behavior. When employees complain, they are ignored or gaslit. Most miserable place to work and many end up with mental illness and PTSD.
@ah can you explain your comment a bit more? How is teleworking getting around The WARN Act? (I don’t understand, but would be happy to bring it to my attorney general’s attention).
Also, the CAP - I have numerous emails with accolades; what is potentially coming at me?
This will be carried out by an invite to a 15 min meeting, sent out around 7pm on Wednesday or around 8:30am on Thursday morning. If you are not laid off but have team members who were you will also get an invite to a survivors meeting to let you know others on your team were let go. Camera and mic are turned off.
The meeting you get put on CAP is the equivalent of being told you can phone it in and look for a new job. The layoff is coming.
They always get around the WARN because of teleworking.
CAP is your ticket out the door.
I’m going to say what a lot of people are thinking but no one is saying out loud.
Why is “CAP” suddenly being mentioned in almost every group meeting lately?
We’re repeatedly told “it’s not a bad thing,” but historically, CAP has been used as documentation that leads to performance write-ups and eventually layoffs. So let’s be honest—what exactly changed, and why the sudden focus now?
It’s hard not to notice the pattern. The targets keep moving, expectations keep increasing, and the goals feel more and more disconnected from the reality of the actual workload. The people setting these expectations aren’t the ones doing the job every day, under the same pressure, with the same volume, and the same constraints.
At some point, calling it “support” while simultaneously increasing pressure starts to feel less like development and more like positioning.
People deserve honesty, not reassurance that doesn’t align with what they’re experiencing in real time.
So I’ll ask directly:
Is this truly about helping employees improve, or is this the early stage of workforce reduction being framed differently?
Transparency matters. People can handle the truth. What’s hard to handle is feeling managed out while being told everything is fine.