Thread regarding AT&T layoffs

Up top it says "Upon receiving formal notification, you will be asked to respond with your intent to accept or decline the change within a short period of time."

I'm not sure that you have to do anything. I would think, that in absence of a response, the offer would be presumed declined.

I'd say, "I think I need more time to think about it". AT&T can carry on from there.

I'm not sure that this "asked to respond" should be met with a response. I'd have to think about whether legally, I'd be better off with no response.

My concern still stands, I want a guarantee that I will receive a surplus notification letter if I decline!

They could change their minds and keep your job open at your current location. But certainly, if there is no longer work at your current location, you can quit, or they can fire you, or lay you off.

There is literally decades in AT&T's history of moving work from one location to another, and I've heard absolutely nothing that tells me that the situation now will be handled any differently than it has been handled in the past.

So, I would keep my mouth shut, wait to be laid off, and preserve that rehire indicator.

OP on "𝙢𝙖𝙮" be eligible? here. For those readers still waiting for an RTO letter, rest assured it's vague. The only commitments given are which metro area—not even which office or area of town—and the reporting deadline year. Everything else is "may be" or "likely not."

In response to: "The reason is says may is because if you get told to move but it's with a reasonable distance, you do NOT get severance if you decline."

That's what I think, that's what you think, but until the company puts down an offer in writing, who knows?

The WARN Act does support it as 'Reason Is' OP notes, as does Section J of the SPD with

𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑎 𝑗𝑜𝑏 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏,

Still not counting those chickens until I see terms laid out in an official offer addressed to me personally.

The RTO letters meet the bare minimum promise of "by June 30." Mine gives "ATS Hub" in "Metro Dallas". Where's that? I wouldn't want to move to Plano to find myself downtown, or in some other place in "metro Dallas" that's within 50 miles. Fifty miles across Dallas is like 200 miles anywhere else; there are some horrible commutes. It states "within 6 months (by year-end 2023)," a period that starts in six days.

Up top it says "Upon receiving formal notification, you will be asked to respond with your intent to accept or decline the change within a short period of time." What is a short period of time, days, 2 weeks, what? Would hate to miss my window of choice when I'm on vacation in August.

"The timing may be extended if needs of business warrant it." I can see a scenario where year-end is approaching and no formal letter has arrived, and suddenly there's an extension into 2024. Until I get a formal notification, I can't leave without forfeiting severance; if I leave on my own accord for a new job, I forfeit severance. It's a gotcha for anyone who lives paycheck to paycheck or doesn't want to take big early withdrawal penalties on an IRA.

"The timing of any severance will be determined at a later date." Not an issue, but I believe there are limits in the SPD of a few weeks or months.

"this move would likely be at your own expense" Ok, but not definite, so nice of you to dangle the possibility of being "an extremely limited case."

Well I know one thing: with most of my closest colleagues in Bothell, Bedminster and VO (at least for now), I know I'll be ready to hit the ground collaborating on Day 1 in Big D, sitting at my laptop, sharing screens and chatting and talking over Teams. Just like I do today but with a better chair, extra monitors, and less background noise.

And finally, just to make sure you don't take the RTO letter figuratively to the bank, the fine print at the bottom:

Yᴏᴜʀ ᴡᴏʀᴋᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ᴅᴇsɪɢɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ɪs ᴀɴ ᴇxᴘᴇᴄᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏғ ᴇᴍᴘʟᴏʏᴍᴇɴᴛ. Iғ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ᴍᴇᴇᴛɪɴɢ ᴡᴏʀᴋ ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʀᴇᴘᴏʀᴛɪɴɢ ᴇxᴘᴇᴄᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴs, ʏᴏᴜ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ sᴜʙᴊᴇᴄᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴅɪsᴄɪᴘʟɪɴᴇ, ᴜᴘ ᴛᴏ ᴀɴᴅ ɪɴᴄʟᴜᴅɪɴɢ ᴛᴇʀᴍɪɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏғ ᴇᴍᴘʟᴏʏᴍᴇɴᴛ. Eᴀᴄʜ Bᴜsɪɴᴇss Uɴɪᴛ ᴅᴇᴛᴇʀᴍɪɴᴇs ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀᴋᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ᴅᴇsɪɢɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ғᴏʀ sᴘᴇᴄɪғɪᴄ ᴘᴏsɪᴛɪᴏɴs, ʙᴀsᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ᴀʟʟ ᴄɪʀᴄᴜᴍsᴛᴀɴᴄᴇs. Dᴇsɪɢɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴs ᴍᴀʏ ʙᴇ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇᴅ ᴀᴛ ᴀɴʏ ᴛɪᴍᴇ. Tʜɪs ᴅᴏᴄᴜᴍᴇɴᴛ ᴅᴏᴇs ɴᴏᴛ ᴄᴏɴsᴛɪᴛᴜᴛᴇ ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛ ᴏғ ᴇᴍᴘʟᴏʏᴍᴇɴᴛ, ᴇɪᴛʜᴇʀ ᴇxᴘʀᴇssᴇᴅ ᴏʀ ɪᴍᴘʟɪᴇᴅ, ᴀɴᴅ sʜᴏᴜʟᴅ ɴᴏᴛ ʙᴇ ᴄᴏɴsᴛʀᴜᴇᴅ ᴀs ᴀ ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛ ᴏʀ ᴀssᴜʀᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴏғ ᴄᴏɴᴛɪɴᴜᴇᴅ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴇɴsᴀᴛɪᴏɴ, ᴇᴍᴘʟᴏʏᴍᴇɴᴛ, ᴏʀ ʙᴇɴᴇғɪᴛ ᴏғ ᴀɴʏ ᴋɪɴᴅ.

With "ʙᴀsᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ᴀʟʟ ᴄɪʀᴄᴜᴍsᴛᴀɴᴄᴇs" they neglected to include "ᴀʀᴏᴜɴᴅ ǫᴜᴀʀᴛᴇʀʟʏ ꜰʀᴇᴇ ᴄᴀsʜ ꜰʟᴏᴡ ʀᴇᴘᴏʀᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ɪɴᴠᴇsᴛᴏʀs." Because that's what this is really about, not "additional
opportunities for collaboration and will open new possibilities for career growth."

OP here. I’m not sure why I need to provide exact details on dates and such in order to answer my question about severance, but sadly, people in this forum seem to want to beat on others for asking honest questions

Beat on others, that is not the case. With no info from management, like myself, I think people wanted to know how detail the letter contains.

You mentioned having two weeks to make a decision regarding relocation after you receive the official notification sometime in July. Any idea when the last day on payroll will be? I can see this varying from person to person depending on the role. The initial communication from John and subsequent follow ups from SVP and town halls suggested we would get all details by the end of June. Based on what you said, there is now a second letter coming out, in your case, in July. Maybe that letter is specific to this that have to relo. Thanks for sharing the details of the letter.

Nothing is guaranteed in this world, except one thing - we all die.

Our VP had a townhall shortly after the May 16 email. He pivoted the agenda to Where and How we work. He was asked on the webcast if severance was available for people who would not be able to move to hubs. He said yes. The HRBP in attendance confirmed.

Hang in there. We’ll get through this. I have a job offer at another company and trying to stall long enough to get severance too. Most of us will find more exciting work and leave the place we built to such great heights to the next generation in Dallas to run into the ground. The Dallas people were the ones who thought up T-Mobile purchase, DIRECTV purchase, and WarnerMedia purchase. I’m sure their RTO plan will be flawless just like those.

I was in a town hall meeting about a month ago and this very question was asked of a AVP of HR. Her response was "yes" to the scenario you described. Things can change and it's not a severance payment until it's in your bank account, but the answer was "yes" in the meeting. Good luck to all...

OP here. I’m not sure why I need to provide exact details on dates and such in order to answer my question about severance, but sadly, people in this forum seem to want to beat on others for asking honest questions. So here goes, the letter is simply a one page letter which states my new assignment is in Dallas, 3-5 days per week in the office, I need to relocate there by the end of 2023. The official notice will come out to me in mid to late July, I have two weeks to accept or decline the offer. It says nothing about severance, the only discussion about severance is with my supervisor who had some FAQ notes to work off of. Hence my questions on severance. You would think fellow employees would actually back you up instead of bashing you for asking questions. My concern still stands, I want a guarantee that I will receive a surplus notification letter if I decline!

relocation option isn’t a given, your job will be floated in a hub location and you can apply for it with other people, if you’re serious about relocating then start applying for roles don’t assume you can shift with your current job

"𝙢𝙖𝙮" be eligible? That's promising but not conclusive. OK, then: on to HR OneStop. The Summary Plan Description (SPD) states....

The reason is says may is because if you get told to move but it's with a reasonable distance, you do NOT get severance if you decline. And that's how it's also stated in the WARN act. And there are specific details about when you have to accept and or decline which is also consistent with what others are saying about if you "accept to stay on the payroll longer and then change your mind." Basically, if you are offered a new job outside a reasonable commuting distance (which seems to be the 50 mile thing people are referencing) and you decline, that is considered an employment loss (involuntary) and it triggers the rules for layoff rules which include severance based on the size of the company and the number of effected workers.

From the WARN act page:
If your employer offers you a transfer to a job within a reasonable commuting distance, you are not considered to have suffered an employment loss, whether or not you
take the job. If your employer offers you a job outside a reasonable commuting distance (see FAQs), you must accept the job within 30 days, or you are considered to have suffered an employment loss.

It’s surprising how few details are provided abut the content of the letter by those that claim to have received the letter.

Right. Does it mention the number of days in office? How detailed is the timetable for relocation? If relo, what is the source and dest city. What the heck do these letters say?

It’s surprising how few details are provided abut the content of the letter by those that claim to have received the letter.

Don’t say anything, just nod and smile. If you ask about severance the spread sheet will be marked. An arm band may be required apparel if you think disloyal thoughts. Be careful of any email or phone call. If it’s a sunny day and someone drives up and you recognize one of them, don’t get in the car.

“If given a new location, and that new location is more than 50 miles, you can choose to take the job, in which case you are expected to relocate by the end of the year, or you can decline the move, which triggers severance.“

This. I talked to someone else today who confirmed the same.

Is there language on off payroll date if you decline to move?

“Can you share the language of the letter (removing the personally
Identifying parts?). With out seeing exactly how it’s written, It’s hard to interpret…”

That would trigger a COBC violation.

Can you share the language of the letter (removing the personally
Identifying parts?). With out seeing exactly how it’s written, It’s hard to interpret…

We had a call with the AVP of HR rather extensively talking over the VP on the call.

What he indicated is as follows: A move of over 50 miles is a severance triggering event. In short, if they ask you to move, and the distance is greater than 50 miles, it should trigger severance.

I've heard (probably on this forum) that the breakdown is as follows:

If given a new location, and that new location is more than 50 miles, you can choose to take the job, in which case you are expected to relocate by the end of the year, or you can decline the move, which triggers severance.

If you opt to move and later do not fulfill that obligation, severance is lost.

But, honestly, who knows at this point. We seem to be firing at a moving target.

"Stanley said we’ll probably be down 15000 by EOY. That could be 1 billion in severance payments."

Good. It's not our problem.

You may get severance but don’t count on the warn act.

All of this should be in writing somewhere, so let's take a stab at it.

Where We Work FAQ says:

𝑄: 𝐼𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑, 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝐼 𝑏𝑒 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒?
𝐴: 𝐸𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒
𝑆𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑃𝑎𝑦 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑛. 𝐿𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑛 𝐻𝑅 𝑂𝑛𝑒𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑝.

"𝙢𝙖𝙮" be eligible? That's promising but not conclusive. OK, then: on to HR OneStop. The Summary Plan Description (SPD) states:

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑇&𝑇 𝑆𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑃𝑎𝑦 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑛 (“𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑛”) 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝐽𝑎𝑛𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑦 1, 1994, 𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑
𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑦𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐽𝑎𝑛𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑦 18, 2022, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑠
𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝐸𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝐸𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑎 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑆𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑁𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐿𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟.

OK, so it appears there needs to be a Severance Notification Letter. Goes on to say:

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑓𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑡 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑦𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒
𝐴𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝐸𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝐸𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑎𝑟𝑒
𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑙𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑙𝑢𝑠, 𝑡𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑛𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙,
𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙, 𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑/𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔
𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑦

Move 2500 miles or lose the job is pretty much involuntary, no? "technological and operational" would seem to apply here, too. About 40 pages of legal binding, arbitration rules, and required boilerplate from Federal legislation follows that. In short, it would be tough to challenge this especially as an individual.

Legg email of 05/18 says:

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑘𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔-𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢.

Yes, had that conversation more than once and it's been "I don't know" and "no, there won't be virtual happening for you, but beyond that, we have to wait for the letter" for dates and terms of relocation.

Back to the "𝗔𝗧&𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝘆 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻
𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗧𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻", I find in the Eligibility Section, Section J:

𝐽. 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑠, 𝑜𝑟, ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑆𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑁𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝐿𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝐸., 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒, 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑎 𝑗𝑜𝑏 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝑜𝑟
ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝑜𝑟...

That comma is VERY important, because "𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑎 𝑗𝑜𝑏 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝑜𝑟
ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏" stands by itself, separate from the Letter mentioned in the previous phrase.

An RTO letter stating your job is a 12 hour drive away reasonably qualifies as "requires relocation," does it not? (Sorry, not all of us have access to the corporate jet, John).

From this it would seem RTOs would get severance under this plan.

But let's say they say nothing other than "here's your new office location and date." I don't show up. They can fire me at will for poor performance at that point. I wouldn't have believed they would try this, but given the way this is proceeding, not so sure now.

As one with experience as a customer in billing disputes with AT&T, I imagine I would burn up the severance owed on any legal action to recover it.

Section J seems pretty clear, though, so if they felt enough of us were making noise to our representatives, the FCC, Twitter, etc., I think they'd give the severance as laid out in their own SPD.

Some managers are releasing the letters, but the PDF never comes in email. Great system they have here. What a mess.

I suggest you read the WARN act about all this.

Making you report more than a reasonable distance and you refuse is considered a layoff (read the document below) and you are entitled to severance. Some states have other specific laws so I suggest you read them as well. And if you get a different answer from HR, bring it up....

Here's a link to the federal WARN act:

https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/layoffs/warn

Stanley said we’ll probably be down 15000 by EOY. That could be 1 billion in severance payments.

It should be ,if you decline a move now you will get severance and be off payroll.

If agree to relocate and you are not at your assigned location , 3-5 days by 12/31/2023 you are terminated for “job abandonment”, no severance.

Do NOT give an answer until all the options and specifics are provided to you in writing. No informed decision can be made without that information.

I'm still curious about the "second wave" people. Are they really making people say NOW that they will move in 18-24 months? Or is it, you're hub assignment will be X city within 18-24 mo and you'll be contacted again closer to time to give official answer?

T has been working hard to look for ways to minimize severance requirements. Severance policy reviews have been the primary reason RTO notices have been delayed and are just now being released.

"OP here, supervisor didn’t have the specifics on if you will definitely get severance and receive that surplus notification letter if you decline. That is why I asked."

That's unacceptable. Did you tell them to find the he-l out? No one can make a decision without this critical information.

*** "The choices are:
1- accept or decline their exit window and get your severance 60 days later
2-accept to stay to get a new position or transfer relocation.
If you don't accept
no job no severance "***

Literally, every single point in this post is wrong.

Well, it's been "established" based on our interpretations of the policy, but looks like we're just now starting to see reports of actual letters being received, and it's worrying that it doesn't explain clearly what happens if you refuse to move.

OP, please let us know if you find out anything, and don't just take your supervisors or an HR reps word for it. It's a serious question and a decent chunk of change. You want to have it in writing!

OP said — Received my letter and I will be asked to move and can accept or refuse to follow the move.

Will be asked to move? Please clarify. The letter you received clearly stated you will need to relocate or there was some other language suggesting more details in the future about relocating? If it specifically stated you will need to relocate - what are the from / to cities and what timeframe was given for you to report to your new location? Did the letter give you new occupancy indicator and how many days per week must you report to the office?

OP here, supervisor didn’t have the specifics on if you will definitely get severance and receive that surplus notification letter if you decline. That is why I asked.

Yes, this has been established over and over. Unless there are some circumstances like you're being fired for cause or you don't otherwise qualify for severance under that policy, then you'll get it.

The choices are:
1- accept or decline their exit window and get your severance 60 days later
2-accept to stay to get a new position or transfer relocation.
If you don't accept
no job no severance

Contact your HR representative. The manager should’ve covered this with you when you went over your letter.