BofA seeks severance refunds

[Robert Oak]

Bank of America Corp. has sent letters to about 70 employees laid off during its merger with FleetBoston Financial Corp. asking them to repay a portion of the money they received in severance.

One former worker, Alisa Drayton of Boston, said the bank asked her to send a check for more than $7,000 in December. "I thought it was so mean-spirited. Why would you send this a week or two before Christmas?" said Drayton, who worked as a corporate finance associate for Fleet's securities unit and is currently unemployed.

When Drayton still hadn't paid in February, the bank sent another letter asking for more than $9,000.

http://www.miami.com/mld/charlotte/business/industries/11379964.htm

While this isn't a major story on the economy, jobs and so forth,
it was so outrageous and to me typifies the attitude towards
working people in the US. BoA is outsourcing, already had one laid off
employee commit suicide in the parking lot after being told and now
this. Note how they seem to love to do these things right before
Christmas...could care less about people, just how to balance their
books at the end of Q4.

[unhappycamper]

1. Get it straight - this is not about balancing the books.

Here's what it's about:

Kenneth D. Lewis
Chairman CEO and President
Bank of America Corp.

In 2004, Kenneth D. Lewis raked in $22,490,496 in total compensation including stock option grants from Bank of America Corp..

And Kenneth D. Lewis has another $58,003,000 in unexercised stock options from previous years

Source:
http://www.aflcio.org/corporateamerica/paywatch/ceou/database.cfm?tkr=BAC&pg=1

[Robert Oak]

2. good point

how many jobs does that represent?

I have also noticed layoffs and screw jobs just when the CEO
compensation package increase is due...

I hope the AFL-CIO would sponsor a study on this to correlate
this rip-off to the workers by showing the number of salaries
it costs to increase this "CEO" compensation, timing of outsourcing,
timing of layoffs.

Here's another amusing tidbit that shows "executive" is really
an insider "boys club".

Siebel Systems just replaced their CEO with the old WebVan CEO...

you know, the guy who ran through millions in cash of VC money
without even a thought to balance the books and ran WebVan
into bankruptcy through complete mismanagement?

Gee wiz, he was only a poster child for the dot con era...
why not give him control over a major corporation as a reward for
such incompetence?

Way to go boys club!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/04/14/BUG9IC7S9I1.DTL

[unhappycamper]

3. The link at the AFL-CIO site also has a "show me how I compare"

feature for your added enjoyment. Push the button & amaze your family and friends.

[Book Lover]

4. A Google News search turned up this link

http://hr2.blr.com/Article.cfm/Nav/5.0.0.0.32735


"When an error of this nature occurs, either overpayment or underpayment, we take steps to correct it," says Alex Liftman, a spokesperson for Bank of America. ''We regret the inconvenience."

One HR specialist calls the request for repayment of severance paid somewhat unusual.

''My experience is that if there was an administrative error, the error was absorbed by the organization," says Kathy Rice, a human resources management consultant. ''It wasn't the employee's fault, and the employee was in the process of losing their job."

A spokesperson for Fidelity Investments, which performs HR work for Bank of America, says it considers it normal business practice to collect overpaid severance, the newspaper reports

[elehhhhna]

5. Keeping an overpayment is not ethical. Sorry.

The employee knows the deal. If someone mistakenly sends me a check, it's not okay to keep it. Period. The complainer sounds like a Situational Ethics-type Republican (I got it, I'm keeping it, gimme more)

Having said that, it might have been smart for the bank to just absorb the loss, although if laid-off employees who DID NOT overcollect were to complain, another problem would be created...

[Robert Oak]

6. when they apply that rule to CEOs...then maybe I'll agree w/ u.

until then...

considering BoA offshored their jobs...finders keepers.

[elehhhhna]

7. Baloney. Still situational ethics. Butm hey, it's your Karma.

[Robert Oak]

8. I learned my ethics from BoA. n/t

[solinvictus]

9. Ha!

Welcome to George Bush's America! I'd tell B of A to fuck off and die! Unless the employee signed an express return of overpayment release, they can't do shit about it. Screw these theiving bastards!!!

[fasttense]

10. Seems to me that most severance calculations

are pretty complicated. Taxes are including in some, taxes are excluded in others. Benefits are included in some, benefits are excluded in others. Unused leave is paid back in some at full price, and some are paid back at half the wage rate. Most employees probably didn't even know they were overpaid. If I were the employer, I would write it off as good will. But Bank of America Corp doesn't have any good will.

[elehhhhna]

11. They had deals for x # of weeks pay.

When time was up and they still got checks, you know they crossed their fingers and deposited them. I understand doing it but it's not right.

I hardly believe these bank employees didn't know what they were supposed to receive.