Deny layoff pay in DC District of Columbia

[mjmjdb]

I have a friend who was recently laid off due to the crash in the financial markets. Upon the notification of his layoff, he was told that for the next two weeks, he would have a "notice period" where he could come to the office and use the equipment to find new employment and also work to transition his work to another colleague. Beyond this time, he would be paid an additional 3 weeks of severance pay. He has honored his side of the commitment by going to the office each day to transition his work and doing whatever else they asked, however the employer has failed to pay him beyond the date where they first notified him of being laid off (today should have been the first paycheck he should have received during this "notice period" as noted above). He's a pretty upstanding individual with a lot of pride in his work, so despite the situation I'm quite sure he held up his end of the bargain in a professional manner. Is this legal to just stop paying him, given that basically they are denying him pay for work already performed per their request?

PS...he has not been provided any layoff documents for signature, so that's not the holdup.

[Betty3]

If he doesn't get paid for time worked, have him put in a claim with the Dept. of Employment Services in Wash. DC.

Severance pay is not required by law - it is up to co. policy/practice or unless there is an employment contract or CBA that addresses this issue.

[Pattymd]

Without a severance agreement in writing, he would be hard pressed to force the company to pay.

Has he questioned HR about this? What do they say?