I was in the first round of layoffs and my official last day was January 26th - I received notice on November 29th I believe. I filed for unemployment in Texas and just found out I was denied due to receiving a severance. Is that the case for everyone else in Texas? Thanks!
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I lived it in 2017 when I was let go by a different employer, got a severance package, applied to TWC, started receiving benefits, only to find out 2 months later I was not qualified due to severance. They did their research with my former employer, took a while, sent me a nice you owe us letter. Told me to re-apply after my severance period was over. I had to write a check back to TWC but already had a job lined up. The system always catches up.
Thought you were all going to walk into a job because VMware made you all so valuable. Is the reality starting to bite?
I'm in Texas and had no problem being approved for unemployment benefits.
FYI, you can appeal the denial. Severance is not a reason to deny an application for unemployment in Texas. Something else, maybe?
I don’t know how you answered your questions but I was transparent and in every comment box said, “I’m doing my best to answer everything correctly. Please, if you have any questions at all contact me.”
They did. I told them when everything was paid, the WARN period, and closing date. Lady was wonderful and nice on the phone.
I’m not rushing to get another job (personal reasons, don’t need to rush, and I want a good fit). Getting paid unemployment no issues. I didn’t get paid the weeks of the forward vest and severance payout. Otherwise, full benefits.
The person that said what they think the severance for ICs is is very very wrong so probably uninformed IC or sh-t manager. It’s 2 months plus week or 2 for every year up to 10 or 12 years. Exception being if you are asked to work during notice period then it’s 4 months plus the other stuff. Should have been in your letter or had a link to check when you still had net access.
Generally in TX if severance is paid over time, that will disqualify you from getting unemployment benefits. If it’s lump sum, it doesn’t usually affect unemployment benefits. If it’s paid over time, you can collect unemployment after that. More detail is available on the TWC site twc.texas.gov under programs.
Good luck.
I can't speak for TX and the subreddit is probably more helpful that this reply but, in many states, you can't file for unemployment benefits until the period the severance covers runs out. The BC severance plan has a formula for what people will receive based on level (eg. management v individual employee) and years of employment with VMware. I think the formula for non-managers is something like 2 months salary for up people who worked at VMware for up to 5 years and then 1 week's salary for every year after 5. (What you actually receive in severance is probably a smaller amount because of taxes and withholding.) You would still have to wait for the period covered by that severance (2 months +) to end before you could file an unemployment claim. I don't recall an absolute disqualification for unemployment if you received ANY severance. If so, what would prevent a company from giving you 1 week of severance so that you could never qualify for unemployment?
I think once your severance period is over then you can apply.
I'm not in TX (I'm in WA) but filed the unemployment on Feb 29th after the severance is paid. I just got the notice today that my weekly claims are going to be paid.
There is a dedicated unemployment subreddit that I used as a guide for WA (r/UnemploymentWA) that has been very helpful.
Checking on TX, it looks like there is one for Texas as well. Maybe try to reach out there too? Best of luck to you!
https://www.reddit.com/r/TexasUnemployment/