Thread regarding HCL Technologies layoffs

I heard this week, they are paying STI out but it will be at 75%, not 100%. I believe this is also not in line with what Verizon severance package offers? Can anyone confirm?

Interesting. Being in international myself it Seems strange to include STI twice. Is that definitely the Verizon severance calculation and not an additional incentive for VSP (voluntary)? If it is and you have proof then surely any employment lawyer reviewing your settlement agreement would tear that apart?

The HCL severance package in our offer letter states that we get no less than the “Verizon Severance Package when we were rebadged” if we are laid off in the first 2 years there.

The Verizon Severance Package is 2 weeks pay for every year service (35 weeks max). You also have covered medical, dental and vision benefits for the same time frame (35 weeks max). The formula used to determine your severance is the sum of your annual base salary + your STI divided by 52 and then multiplie for years service (35 max).

You also get your HCL retention bonus, pro rated STI, pro rated LTI (old stock together) and a check for all of your unused vacation. Lastly, 6 months unemployment.

Here is the difference they are speaking to:
Verizon: Formula used to determine your severance is the sum of your annual base salary + your STI divided by 52 and then multiplied by years of service (max 35).
HCL: Formula does not add in your STI as Verizon does in above formula.

Do you mean STI is not being paid at all? As it definitely is in other countries in Europe (HCL confirmed it) obviously pro rata to your final exit date. Retention Bonus is totally separate so is not interchangeable.

Very interesting they are not including the bonus (KPP aka STI) in calculating our compensation amount as the Verizon Severance Policy states. I am sure what took them so long to answer was them checking with their legal team to see how they could lay us all off as cheaply as possible.

Here are my thoughts, I am not a lawyer and had to look up terms to understand most of them. But looking through all the pages in our Offer Letter/Employment Agreement "contract" it appears “to me” the Retention Bonus and Severance are separate payouts. They each have distinct qualifications to receive the payouts. In the contract, I could not find it in direct writing or even implied that the Retention Bonus could substitute or replace taking the (STI/KPP) calculation from coming up with our total compensation. If HCL is officially saying this, it is an Anticipatory Breach of contract because they are not honoring the contract by combining the Retention Bonus and in the Severance calculations.

We need to speak out and get them to pay our money, all our money. Again, not a lawyer but it looks like because this is a "dispute" we have some options:
• Reach out to HCL leadership and HR. Not joking, I say this so we can 1. start the paper trail and 2. let them know we are not happy about it.
• Reach out to our leadership contacts at Verizon, if they have not jumped ship already.
• Go to arbitration (I believe we waived our right to arbitrate as a group, join a class action lawsuit, and be represented by a lawyer????).
• Reach out to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) – which can help with employee contract disputes.
• Reach out to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) – which can help with employee contract disputes.
• Reach out to a lawyer in our area (I am), not sure if I am reading the contract correctly and each state may have different laws regarding breach of contracts.
• Please review the employee contract if you have not already and chime in with any thoughts or additional things we can do to avoid getting railroaded.

As we learned at Verizon, “Team We Have a Call to Action” to say this is not ok, not even a little bit. The more people that speak up, the more chances of this getting fixed. Every one of us must do our “individual” part to ensure we get what was promised to us!

Disappointed that the sti isn't included since the retention bonus was called out separately from the severance in the offer letter.
I'm assuming this will all be lump sum. And a friend of mine (I didn't look yet) says that matters in some states re: unemployment benefits.

OP here. HCL HR finally responded to my questions yesterday.

1. They are giving us 2 weeks pay for every year service with a max of 35 weeks. They are NOT including STI in the calculation as Verizon does. They are instead paying us out the retention bonus which is a similar amount.

2. HCL is paying our Medical, Dental and Vision benefits in full (100%) for the entire severance period (35 weeks max). This is the same as Verizon does.

Haven't gotten the axe yet, but was told by someone who is gone 11/1 that yes, the severance is the same as Verizon. 2 wks per year up to 35 weeks. Prorated STI included with unpaid vacation if you aren't one of the "unlimited vacation" folks.
Also, subsidized Cobra for the term of your severance which I took to mean, it's like it costs what you pay per paycheck now. How that comes out- all up front of by bank draft? I do not know.

So did HCL ever clarify if the severance would exactly match Verizon's in regards to the two points at the start of this chain?

1. Does HCL add STI in the compensation amount?
2. Do they pay 100% for cobra?

Employment law attorney. You might get a general answer from an actual attorney online (for a few dollars) on justanswer.com

My last day is 11/1. I was told the HCL jobs pay much lower and we can decline based on that fact and we will get the VZ severance. This comes directly from our VP "Shy Asll".

whom would you ask that? Noone in hcl would be capable to answer that question

Has anyone asked if you have to take a redeployment job if offered one or if you decline it will we still get severance paid out? My understanding is you can only decline a redeployment position if the terms and conditions of the new role are different from your current role. What terms and conditions they are referring to I do not know. If salary don’t match can we decline or is it done by skill set. So apparently if the new position terms and conditions are the same as your current role you have to accept it if you don’t you do not get the severance package.

HCL is going to try to sc--w us over with our severance and play d-mb. We have to all hold them accountable to their line in our offer letters about the severance being “no less than Verizon”.

I sent an email to the HCL HR people and specifically asked them about how they are calculating the severance weeks and if they are paying in full for medical, dental and vision benefits as Verizon does for the full 35 weeks. They responded by telling me to review the FAQ’s and the answers were NOT in the FAQ’s.

I am also qualified to receive Verizon subsidized benefits for life since I am ex-Bell Atlantic and VZ Benefits Connection does not show anything benefit related when I sign in (subsidized or access only).

Did HCL ever tell us if the services will be the same? I am looking at the cr-p they just sent out and I am confused about the cobra and if the sti will be used in the salary numbers. It's like they are trying to make it complicated to get over on us.

We were also promised retiree benefits if we met the rule of 75 by the time of the separation. Specifically Access Only Healthcare. Has anyone received any info on that?

Yes, VZ severance was capped at 35 weeks. VSP is 60 weeks.

Does anyone have documentation from Verizon prior to November 1, 2023 regarding severance policy? I don't ever remember there being a cap on it. (35 week max)

Our offer letters state that the severance will be no less than the Verizon severance when we terminated. If HCL gives less, they should expect a class action lawsuit with as much press as possible.

Thank you for sharing this. I never knew how Verizon severance was calculated. That is not how HCLT explained it would be done. But then again they do nothing legit. Like the BPI was supposed to start April first but they started it August 1st with a lump sum for April-July. All the holiday and overtime worked for April-July should have been applied to the retro pay. I am told it is not because the BPI letter said our new total comp went into effect August 1st.

“VZ gave us all of our personal days on 1/1. No accrual involved.“
That’s what I thought as well….
My individual HCL vacation tracker indicates that personal days are being accrued.

You get 2 weeks pay for every year service with a maximum of 35 weeks. Since you have 18 years it would be 18 x 2 = 36. You max out at 35 weeks.

Would someone clarify what entitles "severance"? I heard before that Severance includes 3 months salary + 1 week x year worked. Is that right? am I missing something? for someone that has 18 years at Verizon.. the calculation would be: 3 months Salary + 18 weeks.. totaling = 3 months + 4 months and 2 weeks. = 7 months and 2 weeks. is that correct?????

VZ gave us all of our personal days on 1/1. No accrual involved.

Speaking of vacation, VZ accrued all of our days within the first 10 months of each year. HCL does not seem to be doing that when I look at my balance. It seems they are spreading out the accrual over 12 months. For those of us that have a 11/1 last day, we should have all of our annual vacation accrued at that time.

I’m curious if VZ awarded personal days on January 1 or if they were accrued like vacation.
Does anyone know?