Thirteen days ago I was suspended from my job 'pending investigation' as I was told. 6 days ago I received a payment via direct deposit. I have yet to hear from my employer as to my job status. Today, I left a voice mail and sent an email to my supervisor as to the status of the ivestigation and my job status. I have yet to hear from him. I do believe they have considered me terminated. Can a company (who just so happens to be out of Texas with stores in California) terminate an emplyee without notification at all?

Believe it or not, there is no law that says your employer must inform you that you are fired. In CA they must pay you your final wages within 24 hours of being terminated so if you received those 7 days ago, I'd say that is notice they let you go.

I would advise you to file a claim for unemployment immediately. CA EDD will notify your employer that you have filed, which will likely prompt a response concerning your separation and reasons therefore.

An aside, any chance you are a member of a union?

Nope. We're not union. I thank both of you for your response. I will contact EDD ASAP. Although, I did receive a message from my supervisor returning my call asking me to meet with him this morning. I don't know what he wants to meet about. Probably to let me know that they have terminated my employment. Now that I have received payment, but no notice, am I entitled to a "final check" (the one they must present to you at time of seperation)?

Do you have wages still due you? Accrued vacation/PTO not yet paid?

I don't know yet. They paid me via direct deposit. I haven't received a check stub. It would probably be at my job (1hr away). No one has contacted me about anything. No employment status, final pay, check.....anything.

Can't hurt to call them. They have to mail it to you if you request mailing. Also, it's a violation of law not to provide a pay stub. Ask them to mail the one you're missing, too.

Assuming there was medical coverage, then the employer is legally required to provider COBRA notification upon termination. I have no idea what the time frame is (my background is payroll/accounting, not HR) but I am sure a lot of other people on this board do.

Also, I am not saying to not call the employer, but at some point, put something in writing spelling out what you need and send it certified mail.

COBRA, assuming it is applicable, allows 44 days from the date benefits terminate to notify the employee of their options. Since it has only been a week or so at most, the OP would still have more than a month before the letter would be due.

Well all...I went to meet with my Supervisor today and he terminated my employment with the company today. No biggie, I was actually ready to go 2 months ago and had begun loooking for work then. In any case, my next question is, since I received my final pay 7 days ago, but wasn't officially terminated until today, am I entitled to any type of compensation for the 14 days of my suspension? On the other side of that, he tells me that the payroll company made a mistake and paid me direct deposit, instead of sending him a live check. He didn't know until this morning that I had been paid my final pay 7 days ago. However, he never called me to say anything about his so-called investigation. Aren't they liable for holding my check for 7 days without contacting me. What this tells me is that he decided over a week ago to terminate me, but didn't actually meet with me or make contact with me until I made contact with him.

How does the Bonus check that is scheduled to be paid on August 15th work? Must I wait until then, or do they have to pay me now?

I contacted HR this morning about the paycheck I received 7 days ago, and the HR Manager claims to not know what it was for, because he wasn't at his desk. Of course I knew he was lying. I spoke to this guy quite often while working for the company. In any case, no COBRA info yet. I'm sure they'll get that to me soon. I've already received other benefits. I saw this coming weeks ago. Thanks again for all of your help!!!!!!!

You are not entitled to any additional compensation from the time you were terminated (assuming you received the check, or it was mailed on your termination date) for the time lag in officially notifying you of your termination. I'm not saying this is good business practice, because it isn't. But the DLSE is going to put a very low priority on this if you file a claim, because you have received your final check (apparently).

What about the stub? Either of them?

Regarding your bonus, if you had earned it at the time you left, it would be legally due you under California law. However, the employer does have a "reasonable time" to calculate it and get it to you.

Looks like more communication is necessary. :(

I contacted HR this morning about the paycheck I received 7 days ago, and the HR Manager claims to not know what it was for, because he wasn't at his desk. Of course I knew he was lying. I spoke to this guy quite often while working for the company. In any case, no COBRA info yet. I'm sure they'll get that to me soon. I've already received other benefits. I saw this coming weeks ago. Thanks again for all of your help!!!!!!!

HR has up to 44 days from date of separation to get COBRA enrollment forms to you. Keep in mind that you are only eligible for COBRA if you were enrolled in your employer's health plan prior to separation.

Useful link:
http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq_consumer_cobra.html

I did receive my stub at the termination meeting today. The bonuses are quarterly which, was for the months of Apr-Jun. Again, they are scheduled to be paid in August. What does the courts or the law consider reasonable time to calculate?

If there is a good reason your employer normally pays an bonus based on Apr-Jun information in August, then CA will consider your employer making the payment in August to be "reasonable".

My last employer had exactly the same payment pattern for commissions. Per our published plan, commisssions were based on actually payments recieved from customers for the quarter. This was a big company and it really took the 45 days after quarter ending to process the numbers into a payroll payment. We had several terminated employees file claims against our company, partially to speed up payments, but mostly because they wanted the payments based on sales and not on customers payments of those sales. At least one employee apparently dummied up some of the sales and know the customer would never make the payment. In both cases the administrative action found for the employer and against the employees. They found my employer's published payment plan to be "reasonable" under CA rules.

Thanks DAW!!