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Microsoft Asks For a Refund From Laid-Off Workers [updated]
An anonymous reader writes "The large print giveth, the small print taketh away. Microsoft, which recently laid off 1400 employees, is now claiming that some of those lucky schmoes were inadvertently overpaid on their severance package. A letter from the company, which was subsequently circulated on the internet, states: 'We ask that you repay the overpayment and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience to you.' Microsoft has confirmed the authenticity of the letter, but it's not known what the amounts in question are, or how many of the 1400 were affected." Update: 02/24 14:00 GMT by T : VinylRecords writes "Well, now Microsoft has recanted, saying that the situation has resulted in unfortunate amounts of bad press and public relations. 'This was a mistake on our part,' said a Microsoft spokesman in an e-mailed statement. 'We should have handled this situation in a more thoughtful manner.'"
I'm not a Microsoft employee, but I'm friends with many - and I've intern'd there a number of times.
Microsoft doesn't treat their employee's like "cogs".
As a OSS zealot, I expected to hate my time there - but they really do treat their employees well. Just because they had their first-ever layoff doesn't mean that they treat their employees badly.
For those that don't get it (like me):
http://www.27bslash6.com/overdue.html
and then it "sold" on ebay.
I had but a simple dream, to destroy all humans.
What do you mean it's in my contract? You mean that 50 page thing full of legal jargon? Who has time to read that? I just scrolled down and clicked "I accept."
I see - you mean that legal document by which I am no longer bound* now that the agreement has been terminated by you. kthxbye!
(*) IANAL YMMV E&OE IMHO GTFO STFU
Ahh - My eye!
The doctor said I'm not supposed to get Slashdot in it!
Usually, the "official" termination date occurs at the end of the severance period. Most companies retain the "right" to recall you from your enforced sabbatical during that period.
This is not accurate. Severance is a post-employment payment and does not occur until after your termination of employment. As such, companies do not retain the right to recall an employee to work. They do on occasion enfore certain other rights during severance such as non-compete (where allowed, and sometimes even where not allowed), non-disparagement, non-solicitation, etc. Assuming Microsoft has completed all payments to individuals and now wants to recoup, they are likely going to have a hard time doing so as it will require the willing agreement of the person who got the payment - and how likely is that. Without voluntary repayment, they will have no recourse other than to sue, and that would likely end up being a big drain on resources, cost more than it would recoup and big a huge PR disaster.