Laid off...What you should do next
One of the worst and unexpected things a person can hear is "we are laying off" or "we are closing". Unfortunately, this is a sign of the times.
How is a person supposed to react to this news?? Amazement, disbelief, anger are a few common reactions.
I worked for a nation wide company for 7 years. Over the summer, there was talk the building was closing and we would all be laid off. We all thought, 'this is just talk".
Rumors always circulate in a big company. It gives people something to talk about during the day.
MId August, the company I worked for gathered all 200 employees in the largest room in the building. We all knew something was up. You could feel it in the air.
We were told for business and economic reasons the building would have to close sometime in October. You could see the look of disbelief on everyone's faces.
The reactions were varied. Some people were mad they were losing their job knowing they have to start looking for a new job. Some folks were glad. They were burned out and needed a break. My reaction was amazement. Never in a million years did I think this company with a good reputation, high volume and several other facilities in other states would close.
Some people did not make it until October. They started looking for a new job immediately. They were employees who had worked for this company less than a year. That had us down to 75 employees left in mid October to qualify for the severance check.
OK. You have your severance check and sign up for unemployment. But there is so much more to do. Health benefits and life insurance you had at your previous employer are gone.
As we all know, finding a quality health care program is very expensive. You can choose to take your companies Cobra benefits. This usually turns out to be very expensive and you can only retain these benefits for 18 months. Finding a quality health care program is also expensive. Particularly if you have a previous existing condition. Then this becomes really difficult. I was lucky enough to get in a program sponsored by the state I live in. This program is not cheap but still less expensive than the Cobra. I also had to jump thru alot of hoops to get in, but I did get in. Also, this program was designed for people with such conditions. I am a breast cancer survivor and a private program would not touch me.
The Key to this whole thing is timing. Your employer will mail you Cobra benefit information approximately 14 days after your active coverage ends.You have 60 days from receipt of Cobra information to elect Cobra benefits. You can choose to enroll in another group health plan instead of Cobra as long as you do it within 30 days after your group health coverage ends.
Unfortunately, in my case, the 30 day time frame did not work. When I started calling different local, well known health plans, the second I said I was a breast cancer survivor I was turned down even though I was in my 30 day time frame.
Next item to take care of is Life Insurance. That expired on December 31. We had the choice to convert the policy we had as employees to an individual plan. I took care of this problem last week. The big shock was the price. What I paid for through my pay check for quality life insurance was mere dollars per month. My new converted policy is costing me just under $200.00 per month. This is due to my age and my breast cancer of 4 years ago.
Final step to take is find a new job. I am online every day submitting resumes along with so many people. At least the internet makes this task a whole lot easier. Find a site and submit resume.
I have been looking at home businesses to start up as well. There are so many opportunities to start an online business. Most require very little capital to get started.
It is a new year. I feel optimistic that when one door closes, another opens.
How is a person supposed to react to this news?? Amazement, disbelief, anger are a few common reactions.
I worked for a nation wide company for 7 years. Over the summer, there was talk the building was closing and we would all be laid off. We all thought, 'this is just talk".
Rumors always circulate in a big company. It gives people something to talk about during the day.
MId August, the company I worked for gathered all 200 employees in the largest room in the building. We all knew something was up. You could feel it in the air.
We were told for business and economic reasons the building would have to close sometime in October. You could see the look of disbelief on everyone's faces.
The reactions were varied. Some people were mad they were losing their job knowing they have to start looking for a new job. Some folks were glad. They were burned out and needed a break. My reaction was amazement. Never in a million years did I think this company with a good reputation, high volume and several other facilities in other states would close.
Some people did not make it until October. They started looking for a new job immediately. They were employees who had worked for this company less than a year. That had us down to 75 employees left in mid October to qualify for the severance check.
OK. You have your severance check and sign up for unemployment. But there is so much more to do. Health benefits and life insurance you had at your previous employer are gone.
As we all know, finding a quality health care program is very expensive. You can choose to take your companies Cobra benefits. This usually turns out to be very expensive and you can only retain these benefits for 18 months. Finding a quality health care program is also expensive. Particularly if you have a previous existing condition. Then this becomes really difficult. I was lucky enough to get in a program sponsored by the state I live in. This program is not cheap but still less expensive than the Cobra. I also had to jump thru alot of hoops to get in, but I did get in. Also, this program was designed for people with such conditions. I am a breast cancer survivor and a private program would not touch me.
The Key to this whole thing is timing. Your employer will mail you Cobra benefit information approximately 14 days after your active coverage ends.You have 60 days from receipt of Cobra information to elect Cobra benefits. You can choose to enroll in another group health plan instead of Cobra as long as you do it within 30 days after your group health coverage ends.
Unfortunately, in my case, the 30 day time frame did not work. When I started calling different local, well known health plans, the second I said I was a breast cancer survivor I was turned down even though I was in my 30 day time frame.
Next item to take care of is Life Insurance. That expired on December 31. We had the choice to convert the policy we had as employees to an individual plan. I took care of this problem last week. The big shock was the price. What I paid for through my pay check for quality life insurance was mere dollars per month. My new converted policy is costing me just under $200.00 per month. This is due to my age and my breast cancer of 4 years ago.
Final step to take is find a new job. I am online every day submitting resumes along with so many people. At least the internet makes this task a whole lot easier. Find a site and submit resume.
I have been looking at home businesses to start up as well. There are so many opportunities to start an online business. Most require very little capital to get started.
It is a new year. I feel optimistic that when one door closes, another opens.
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