I have a 5 year secondment that I am 1.5 years in to, in France. I have preformed all duties well and am an employee in good standing. Due to the loss of a client, my boss wants to close my office (which is just me and one other person) and has told me he is ending the secondment early and that I must relocate back to the main office (in the US).
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They have offered me my same position and salary in the US, and will pay for my relocation cost.
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I do not want to move, I have too many personal commitments here, so I want to decline.
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We haven't gotten to the point of discussion on what will happen if I refuse.
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They have not laid me off or fired me (it hasn't even been discussed) however I will not have the job I used to have as our office in France is closing at the end of the month, and the other person in the office has been fired.
Do I have any rights to termination package/benefits because the situation is the practically a layoff, as the relocation is significant and there is no job anymore at my current location?
In my secondment contract, it states 5 years with no clause of early leaving or change of location.
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It says my salary and insurance will be a certain amount for the 5 years, as well as certain expenses covered (phone, any travel back to the US).
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It also gives me 30 paid vacation days of which I have 28 days remaining for the last 12 months.
I have worked at the company for almost 8 years, and have been an excellent employee. I would like to leave on amicable terms as I work in a small industry. As well I have loved my job and have had a great relationship with my boss.
My plan was to ask for 3 months severance pay plus insurance for three months, but I do not know what I am going to do if they say I am quitting and do not agree to give me anything. This is my fear, so I want to make sure I word everything that indicates I am not quitting and am entitled to a layoff package if my job has become redundant.
Any changes to my secondment requires my agreement, however I don't know if I would be willing/able to take my employer to court over this as I am not in the country. As well, I do not want to accept my employer finding me another job here with a different company in lieu of severance (which is what I think he will offer to do, he has a lot of contacts here), because I want to rethink my career a bit if I have the chance. I think the push for money is going to be quite difficult so I want to be well prepared.
For my personal situation; I have about 6 months salary liquid at the moment at my current living expense (which I would be able to stretch to 8 months maybe), so any additional money would be a very helpful cushion while I looked for a new job. I have additional money invested, which I would like not to touch at all. I am an EU + US citizen so have no visa issues with the job loss.
My question would be:
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What rights do I have that can help me neogotiate?
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What do you suggest to ask for (should I ask for more?)?
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Is there anything I might not be considering that comes with leaving a job unwillingly/unexpectedly?
Thanks!
Submitted April 07, 2017 at 07:44AM by Keyspam102 http://ift.tt/2oMnjSt
