February 2004
WIN AT WORK MONTHLY
A Community Service of SESSIONS KIMBALL & TURNER LLP, Employee Rights Attorneys
Win at Work	Employee Rights Update
YOU DESERVE SEVERANCE PAY! Contrary to the advice of the few books on this topic, you have every right to receive or increase severance pay, especially when your employer wants you to sign a full release of your rights. Termination of employment is not just a disappointment, but an opportunity as well. It’s a chance to cash in on workplace wrongs during, ending, or after your employment. It’s judgment day—and you’re the prosecutor, not the accused! Knowing and using your rights to negotiate the best severance package is your most powerful tool. Evaluate your rights regarding overtime, commissions, breaks, leaves, discrimination, retaliation, unfairness, broken promises, fraud, and slander. Read books, call government agencies, or talk to an attorney, not only about what you can get, but also what you have to give up. But whatever you do, don’t sign away your rights until you know them. After all, a pot of gold may be waiting.	DISABILITY REQUIRES COOPERATION If an employee is or becomes disabled, the law requires the employee to cooperate with the employer in determining whether a reasonable accommodation exits. If the employee fails to cooperate, the employer will not likely be held liable for failure to make a reasonable accommodation. The law requires the employee and employer to engage in what it terms an “interactive process” to either accommodate the employee to do the present job or an alternative accommodation within the company. This interactive process may require the employee to follow company policies and procedures as well as requests for medical documentation concerning the disability. The employee should document all communications with the employer. The employee should keep copies of all documents given to, received from, or provided by the employer, and make sure all of these documents have the appropriate date, if not, write the date on it and initial it. Patrick Mortimer, Attorney
Update on our attorneys: Jim Peters presented a seminar on employee rights to a large service organization. Our new partnership, Sessions Kimball Turner LLP, was publicized in the media.
Look for our answers to employees’ questions in the “Life and Work Q & A” column of the Orange County Register’s "Business Monday" magazine. E-mail us at info@job-law.com to have your address added or removed from our monthly mailing list. For more employee rights information or for past issues of Win at Work Monthly, click here for our website, job-law.com; here to order our book, Employee Rights in California; or contact our office directly at 23456 Madero, Suite 170, Mission Viejo, CA 92691, (949) 380-0900, (800) 774-7494, info@job-law.com. The Win at Work portion of Win at Work Monthly is from our ongoing syndicated column, which appears in the Los Angeles Times’ “Career Builder Magazine” and elsewhere. Win at Work Monthly is intended for general information and should not be construed as legal advice or opinion. Readers in need of legal advice should promptly retain the services of an attorney. ©2004 by Sessions Kimball & Turner LLP.