Book Directed at Terminated Workers

You’ve just lost your job, you don’t belong to a union and you don’t know where to turn for help.

Enter the National Employee Rights Institute and its new publication: “Job Rights & Survival Strategies, A Handbook for Terminated Employees.”

The 157-page guide comes complete with sample letters and forms, addresses of various associations involved in employment law, and tips for dealing with everything from legal responses to emotional support in a time of crisis.

The handbook is basically the result of a declining labor movement, according to Paul Tobias, founder and chairman of the Cincinnati-based NERI. With only 11% of the nation’s civilian work force represented by unions, Tobias said there is a need to help protect the rights of employees who lose their jobs through firings, downsizing or technological change.

Tobias helped found NERI in 1993 to serve as an advocate for employees by helping them understand and enforce their rights in the workplace. A veteran employment lawyer, Tobias also was a founder of the National Employment Lawyers Assn., whose members are active in some of the nation’s major employment discrimination and harassment cases.

In its handbook, NERI provides terminated employees with detailed advice on how to deal with their employer.

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The first advice is to see if there’s a chance you can stretch out your departure date. “Before you panic or pack up your belongings,” the handbook says, “think about the scenarios under which it might be possible for you to stay with this employer to accumulate more service time and possibly bridge any time needed to fulfill the requirements of your pension or other retirement plan.”

At the very least, the handbook instructs the newly terminated, “continued employment--no matter how brief--can provide some continuity and income while you are looking for another job.”

“Job Rights & Survival Strategies” goes from this and other common-sense advice, such as avoiding angry outbursts that only reinforce your employer’s decision to terminate you, to detailed advice on matters such as the advantages and disadvantages of lump-sum payments versus salary continuation, pension-plan options and how to make sure you were being properly paid while you were employed.

The handbook advises employees they may be underestimating their negotiating power.

“Employees have more bargaining power than they realize. Employers are fearful of bad publicity. They don’t like disgruntled former employees contacting higher-ups, members of the board of directors, the IRS or the media. They are concerned about the adverse effect of unfair terminations upon the current work force and upon employee morale,” the handbook says.

The handbook also cautions workers against threatening to go to the press or to the government if they don’t get extra money. “Extortion is a crime,” it warns.

The handbook notes that employers often are willing to expand severance and benefit packages to quickly resolve an employee’s dissatisfaction. There is at least one major exception.

“You should know that if you have been discharged for misconduct, your chances of obtaining a good severance package are extremely poor unless you are a top executive,” the handbook says.

Just how much should you expect to get in severance pay? It all depends on your level in the company. The most important thing to know, according to the handbook, is what constitutes a standard separation package at your company.

“Recent surveys show that senior executives usually receive at least 12 months of severance pay. Mid-level executives get six to 12 months’ severance pay, but at junior levels it could be as little as three to six months, with greater amounts for very long-service employees who are over 40,” the handbook says.

That’s what you can expect if you are what’s known as an “exempt,” salaried employee. If you’re a blue-collar, hourly worker, don’t expect to fare as well. Hourly employees generally receive no more than one week’s pay for each year of service at best. Many small employers still offer two weeks’ pay as severance, according to the handbook.

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Money isn’t the only thing you want to think about when you’ve lost your job. “Sometimes there is derogatory information in your personnel file,” NERI’s guide advises. “You should request that the employer destroy the unflattering, unfavorable documents. Employers will often agree to seal and not open your file except for just cause or business necessity after prior notice to you.”

The handbook also gives brief summaries of the protections offered workers under federal employment laws ranging from the National Labor Relations Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Equal Pay Act, all laws that might provide legal relief to someone suddenly out of work.

If all else fails, and you plan to take your employer to court, the handbook has one very straightforward piece of advice: Get a lawyer.

“Succeeding in an employment-termination lawsuit without a lawyer is virtually impossible,” the handbook warns.