Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Successor employer refuses to allow continuation of telecommuting.

Dear Madam/Sir:

I work as a middle manager of a large defense contractor in the Los Angeles area. The company I work for is being acquired by a California headquartered company. I have been allowed by my management to telecommute 2 days per week from my home which is 130 miles away. I have been telecommuting for 2 years. I have an apartment in L.A. where I live during the weekdays I work in L.A., but L.A. is not my home. If I am not laid off by the acquiring company, can the new company tell me that I can no longer telecommute? In other words, if the new company decides their policies will not permit me to telecommute, have I received a constructive termination entitling me to severance benefits and unemployment compensation? Do I have any legal rights to assert this?

Thank you.


Asked on 8/27/02, 1:07 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Michael Kirschbaum Law Offices of Michael R. Kirschbaum

Re: Successor employer refuses to allow continuation of telecommuting.

If you are establishing a new relationship with the acquiring company, it will not be bound by any prior agreements you had with the former employer, unless there are specific promises that the terms and conditions of your prior employment will not change.

Severance pay is not required to be paid by law. It is the product of an agreement between the employer and employee. In order to determine whether there is a contractual obligation for the employer to pay severance to you under the conditions you describe, the severance plan will have to be examined.

To receive unemployment benefits when an employee quits, the employee must show that she did so for good cause. There are cases that have said that excessive travel that causes a hardship to the employee constitutes good cause. Whether your situation applies depends on the specific facts of your case. You will have to show how the daily travel would cause you hardship, beyond the unpleasant commute that many other workers are required to do.

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Answered on 8/29/02, 12:06 pm


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