SPEEA contracts call for Profs to be laid off according to their major organization (BCA, BDS, etc.) / job family / Skill Management Code (SMC), beginning with the lowest retention rating (R3). Techs are laid off according to their major organization / job family / SMC, beginning with the lowest grade level and retention rating (R3).
Under the terms of Boeing’s contracts with SPEEA, managers issue retention ratings each year. The ratings are used to determine the order of SPEEA members leaving the company in the event of a layoff. There are three retention buckets (R1, R2, R3) from within your Major Organization, Job Family, and SMC (and within levels for Techs). R3s are the first bucket to be considered for surplus and so on. Management further delineates who is subject to surplus from within each bucket.
Boeing will use the retention ratings already issued to SPEEA-represented employees when determining layoffs during this cycle.
If you have not received a retention notice from management yet, check in Worklife under your profile to see your rating. If your rating has dropped from the previous year or you have four or more consecutive R3 ratings in the same SMC or you are designated, get ahold of your Contract Administrator as soon as possible so we can process a retention appeal per Article 8.4(h) of the contract. Click here if you’re having trouble finding this on Worklife.
Those without a retention rating will receive a retention rating prior to the surplus declaration date of Oct. 29, 2024. The Boeing leaders are in the process of this right now.
We are still waiting to hear from Boeing.
Although the company has stated no voluntary layoffs, employes with a retention rating service adjustment based on years of service can waive the adjustment. To do this, they need to send a digitally signed email to their manager or Skill Team Captain stating their desire to waive their adjustment. This waiver of the service adjustment will remain in place until the next periodic retention index review.
SPEEA’s contracts require Boeing to release contract labor and industry assists working in a SPEEA-represented major organization / job family / SMC by the layoff date of any represented employee in that job classification. They can be released at any time during the 60-day notification but must be released by the actual layoff date. SPEEA continues to monitor this activity.
Multiple SPEEA staff monitor the layoff data as well as Boeing to ensure retention ratings align with the layoffs.
This provision in SPEEA’s contracts gives laid-off employees who enroll the first consideration for openings in their job classification for up to three years. You will receive more information about how to create and maintain your priority recall status from the company prior to your layoff. To qualify, register within 60 days of your layoff. You need to reapply each half-calendar year for the balance of three years.
- You take a lump sum payout for your layoff benefit.
- You have a “designated” retention rating at the time of layoff.
If laid off, you will receive one week of pay for each full year of service, max 26 weeks. This can be taken as income continuation or Lump Sum. If Lump Sum is selected, Priority Recall Rights are waived.
Boeing will cover the cost of COBRA for health and dental coverage for the first full three months after the layoff. After that, laid-off employees will pay the full cost of the monthly premium as noted in the rates, for as long as needed up to an additional 15 months.
If an employee is on an approved Leave of Absence (LOA), the LOA will extend the layoff date. Once they are medically cleared to return, they are laid off the next day.
All SPEEA-represented employees who receive a layoff notice will receive more information from SPEEA regarding signing up for priority recall and other helpful information. SPEEA members in Washington state who receive WARN notices will be invited to meetings with representatives of the Employment Security Department’s WorkSource program to review options available to them. At those meetings, SPEEA Contract Administrators will go over topics like Boeing’s Priority Recall process. SPEEA can work on setting up a similar meeting for Oregon if needed.
Yes. Check with your state’s unemployment office for details on how to apply:
Yes, you can collect Unemployment Insurance while also receiving income continuation from Boeing. Important: When filing for unemployment insurance, do not say severance.
The pay you receive based on your “weeks of service” layoff benefit is not reportable as income. So, make sure to answer “NO” to the question that asks if you are receiving severance pay.
For more information on this as well as vacation and sick leave payout and/or pension relating to unemployment insurance, click here.
No. Retiring before being laid off means you will miss out on the layoff benefits (cash money). If you were planning on retiring, you may elect to receive the layoff benefits in a lump sum, get laid off and, if eligible, commence your pension on the first day of the next month.
The layoff comes with a six-year bridge. If you are laid off within six years of age 55 and maintain your layoff status until age 55 (and are otherwise eligible), you may collect your pension at age 55 with the favorable age-based penalties called “early retirement subsidies.” If you are laid off more than six years from age 55, the layoff bridge will not benefit you.
Boeing could stop payments when you return to work or on your first day of retirement.
Boeing’s pensions are well funded and are protected by many laws. From a high level, pension plan assets can only be used for pension plan participants, so Boeing can’t raid the pension plan to raise cash or for any other purpose.
Retirees and SPEEA-represented employees last hired before March 2013 participate in a defined benefit pension plan called the Boeing Company Employee Retirement Plan (BCERP). The BCERP is a single-employer pension plan guaranteed by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp (PBGC). If Boeing were to go bankrupt and if the bankruptcy proceedings include terminating the pension plan, the pension plan assets and liabilities would revert to the PBGC.
The PBGC has maximum guarantee tables that vary based on the age of the participant, when the employer entered bankruptcy, when the plan was terminated and when benefits were first received by the retiree. Most often, the age that applies is the age at which you first started receiving benefits from the PBGC. You can find out more information about the guarantees at https://www.pbgc.gov/wr/benefits/guaranteed-benefits/maximum-guarantee.
Boeing has a “Summary of Your Benefits When You Leave The Boeing Company – Employees Represented by SPEEA — Professional and Technical.” Click here or go to www.speea.org – drop down menu: Member Tools/Layoff Information/Boeing Prof and Tech for details.
SPEEA Contract Administrators are working with Council Reps to host lunchtime meetings. In addition, SPEEA staff will put a video recording of the presentation online soon.
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