Am I Entitled to Severance If I Quit in Pennsylvania?
The employee-employer relationship can come to an end in a number of ways. What happens after the relationship terminates depends, to a large extent, on how the relationship terminated. More specifically, the benefits you receive and/or are entitled to after the relationship ends will depend on why your employment with the company ended. If you are considering quitting your job, you may be wondering “Am I entitled to severance if I quit in Pennsylvania?” As is often the case with employment related legal questions, it is always best to consult with an experienced Pennsylvania employment law attorney because no two situations are exactly the same; however, some general information about severance pay in Pennsylvania may also be helpful in the meantime.
All too often employees make the mistake of resigning their position with an employer because they fear being fired or laid off, when in fact it may be wiser to wait and let the company sever the employment relationship. There are several reasons why quitting may not be in your best interest, severance pay being one of them.
Pennsylvania does not require employers to pay severance pay to any employees. Therefore, whether or not you are entitled to severance pay under any circumstances will depend on the terms of your employment contract and/or your company’s general severance pay policy.
The first thing you should do if you are concerned about losing severance pay by quitting your job is to have an experienced employment law attorney review you or employment contract, if you have one, and your employee handbook or company policy manual. Typically, your employment contract will outline in detail how much severance pay you are entitled to and under what circumstances you are entitled to it. Most employers do not offer severance pay if the employee quits, unless the employee was able to negotiate that term into the contract before starting employment with the company. If your contract does include severance pay if you resign your position then you can stop there and rely on your contract should you decide to quit.
If, however, your employment contract does not require severance pay to be paid in the event you resign, or you don’t have an employment contract, you will need to look at company policy next. Again, company policy usually does not include payment of severance pay when an employee quits but it is certainly worth checking to see if your employer is an exception to that general rule.
If it appears that you will not be entitled to severance pay if you quit your job you may wish to reconsider resigning. For this, and other, reasons it is often better to wait and let your employer fire you in some cases. If you are unsure how to proceed, contact an experienced Pennsylvania employment law attorney as soon as possible to discuss your options. Contact the employment law attorneys at Curley & Rothman, LLC by calling 610-834-8819 today to schedule your consultation.