Exit incentive other employment termination program

C Often, when utilizing a program an employer is attempting to reduce its workforce at a particular facility in an effort to eliminate what it deems to be excessive overhead, expenses, or costs from its organization at that facility. If the employer's goal is the reduction of its workforce at a particular facility and that employer undertakes a decision- making process by which certain employees of the facility are selected for a program, and others are not selected for a program, then that facility generally will be the decisional unit for purposes of section 7 f 1 H of the ADEA.

D However, if an employer seeks to terminate employees by exclusively considering a particular portion or subgroup of its operations at a specific facility, then that subgroup or portion of the workforce at that facility will be considered the decisional unit. E Likewise, if the employer analyzes its operations at several facilities, specifically considers and compares ages, seniority rosters, or similar factors at differing facilities, and determines to focus its workforce reduction at a particular facility, then by the nature of that employer's decision-making process the decisional unit would include all considered facilities and not just the facility selected for the reductions.

Involuntary reductions in force typically are structured along one or more of the following lines: A Facility-wide : Ten percent of the employees in the Springfield facility will be terminated within the next ten days; B Division-wide : Fifteen of the employees in the Computer Division will be terminated in December; C Department-wide : One-half of the workers in the Keyboard Department of the Computer Division will be terminated in December; D Reporting : Ten percent of the employees who report to the Vice President for Sales, wherever the employees are located, will be terminated immediately; E Job Category : Ten percent of all accountants, wherever the employees are located, will be terminated next week.

For example, review by the Human Resources Department to monitor compliance with discrimination laws does not affect the decisional unit. Similarly, when a regional manager in charge of more than one facility reviews the termination decisions regarding one of those facilities, the review does not alter the decisional unit, which remains the one facility under consideration. B However, if the regional manager in the course of review determines that persons in other facilities should also be considered for termination, the decisional unit becomes the population of all facilities considered.

Further, if, for example, the regional manager and his three immediate subordinates jointly review the termination decisions, taking into account more than one facility, the decisional unit becomes the populations of all facilities considered. The use of age bands broader than one year such as "age " does not satisfy this requirement. Special rules apply to this situation. Specifically, information supplied with regard to the involuntary termination program should be cumulative, so that later terminees are provided ages and job titles or job categories, as appropriate, for all persons in the decisional unit at the beginning of the program and all persons terminated to date.

There is no duty to supplement the information given to earlier terminees so long as the disclosure, at the time it is given, conforms to the requirements of this section. This example is not presented as a prototype notification agreement that automatically will comply with the ADEA. B All persons in the Construction Division are eligible for the program.

All persons who are being terminated in our November RIF are selected for the program. C All persons who are being offered consideration under a waiver agreement must sign the agreement and return it to the Personnel Office within 45 days after receiving the waiver. Once the signed waiver is returned to the Personnel Office, the employee has 7 days to revoke the waiver agreement.

D The following is a listing of the ages and job titles of persons in the Construction Division who were and were not selected for termination and the offer of consideration for signing a waiver: Job Title Age Selected Not Selected 1 Mechanical Engineers, I 25 21 48 26 11 73 63 4 18 64 3 11 2 Mechanical Engineers, II 28 3 10 29 11 17 Etc.

He has handled numerous cases before state and federal courts and state and federal civil rights agencies, including claims The Blogs on this website are for educational and informational purposes only. Use of the Blogs does not create any attorney-client relationship between you and any individual KMK attorney or the firm. The Blogs do not constitute legal advice and are not a substitute for legal advice from a licensed attorney in your state.

The information contained within another site that is linked to or from the Blog are beyond the control of the individual blogger or KMK and do not convey approval, support, or any relationship to any site or organization. By Mark J. Chumley on 4. Under the OWBPA, for a release of age discrimination claims to be valid, the following must be present: the waiver must be in writing and be understandable; the waiver must specifically refer to ADEA rights or claims; the employee may not waive rights or claims that may arise in the future; the waiver must be in exchange for valuable consideration, i.

Mark J. For example, under the Minnesota Age Discrimination Act, a release must give the employee fifteen days after signing the agreement to change his mind and revoke his signature. Under California law, a waiver cannot release unknown claims unless the waiver agreement contains certain language specifically providing for such a waiver.

Other states may impose additional requirements to obtain an effective waiver of certain state law claims. To determine whether a severance agreement is enforceable in the state in which you work, contact your state labor law department or consult with an attorney for legal advice. Circuit City Stores , F. Union Pac. Lehigh Health Network , F. Amedisys , Inc. Even courts that apply ordinary contract principles generally consider the circumstances surrounding the execution of the release, the clarity of the release, and whether the employee was represented by or discouraged from consulting an attorney.

See e. University of Minn. Waivers that are executed by employees who were not advised to seek legal advice are more closely scrutinized than agreements entered into by employees after consultation with an attorney. Ford Motor Company , F. Arco Chem. EEOC guidance also states that obtaining a promise from an employee not to file a charge or assist in Commission investigations constitutes unlawful retaliation in violation of federal employment rights statutes.

S ee also Oubre v. Entergy Operations, Inc. Cole Taylor Bank , F. Ford Motor Co. El Paso Natural Gas Co. Part International Business Machines Corp. IBM , F. Cardoza-Rodriguez , F. BAE Sys. And Elec. Integration, Inc.

April 16, Sara Lee Corp. General Motors Corp. Bull HN Information Sys. Gerber Products Co. Johnston Indus. See also DiBiase v. SmithKline Beecham Corp. All persons who are being terminated in our November RIF are selected for the program.

See Pagilio v. Guidant Corp. Weyerhaeuser Co. What does a severance agreement look like? Termination of Employment. You will cease to be employed by the Company on X date. Severance Payments. The Company agrees to pay you X weeks of severance pay. The severance pay will be in addition to the payment of unused accrued vacation pay to which you are entitled.

You may elect to receive this severance pay in the form of a lump sum payment, or spread it over a number of weeks, less applicable deductions for taxes. A waiver in a severance agreement generally is valid when an employee knowingly and voluntarily consents to the waiver.

The rules regarding whether a waiver is knowing and voluntary depend on the statute under which suit has been, or may be, brought. What makes a waiver of age claims knowing and voluntary?