For those of us eligible for retirement (age 50 or older with at least 10 years of service), can anyone suggest what we should say to HR when we receive a rif call? I saw a post last year where HR told the person being riffed to complete the retirement form. That person was later informed that advice was wrong. Luckily after reading information on the form, they made the wise decision not to submit it which would have blocked their severance payout. The last few times I have tried to have a conversation with a representative from HR, I have felt that they either didn't know the subject matter or they were just talking in circles and wouldn't give a straight answer (or both). Since HR won't say anything about your retirement eligibility during a rif call, do we just tell HR we are aware of being retirement eligible and will be working with HR at the end of the severance payout period to finalize the retirement paperwork?
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I asked about retirement last year. Website is misleading. Retirement benefits are NOT available for employees that "joined" the company starting January 1, 2014. That includes Amerigroup legacy people since that was the official date merging with Wellpoint. Employees prior to 1/1/2014 are eligible if they meet the requirements online.
I suggest if anyone has lawyer friends they have them take a look at the severance packets that will be mailed out so any of the “fine print” stuff can be explained in a way we understand! GOOD LUCK
Having recently gone through the RIF process, you won't have a chance to really ask anything today. Typically any questions you pose during the 15 minute call are put off by HR till you can have a 1:1 with them or the large HR meeting that'll be scheduled a week out of so.
I will say, I asked follow up questions regarding retirement in my 1:1 with HR as I qualified for it and found it difficult to get answers. From what they indicated the severance money is basically the same but you just don't have to apply for unemployment. So instead of deducting the unemployment pay out of my paycheck, they just pay you the whole thing. Otherwise there really are no retirement benefits unless you happen to have an old Wellpoint grandfathered in pension plan. Some of that info is in the packet they e-mail you.
Note of advice, READ THE PACKET VERY CAREFULLY. They are several ways you could lose the severance - not returning signed paperwork on time, not filing for unemployment, or not completing the weekly attestation. The process is actually pretty easy but a missing a step could be costly. There is also info on health insurance, retirement, AIP (which you may still get part of it), stock/stock options, and other things.
Wish everyone the best today as it's going to be a challenging day getting either the layoff notice or watching your friends get it.
I have the same question. I would just state “I need more time to think before I make any decisions.” This way you can gather all the facts before making any commitments and getting screwed out of benefits owed to you.” Everyone will be different based on age and years of service such as were you grandfathered in a previous retirement plan (such pre acquisition of Anthem/Wellpoint).
Someone I know got laid off a few years ago and tried to get unemployment only to keep getting denied and found out Anthem told the unemployment office she quit and wasn’t owed anything. Keep any and all paperwork and demand it showing you were in fact laid off. She had weeks of endless back and forth fighting the lies.
Get everything in writing such as your questions/answers. Or heck, get the voice recordings or announce you want the meeting recorded such as via Teams etc..
I suspect Anthem/EH will want you to go down the path that benefits them economically.