Can You Legally Continue to Collect Pay from a Layoff After You Start a New Job
My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: California and New York
I'm currently employed at Company A, but about to start at company B:
Company A: large privately held tech company. Company is being restructured - we closed our offices in this state & transitioned everyone to work-from-home. My program was eliminated in this process, and I was informed last week that I'm going to be laid off within 4-6 weeks, but they are unsure the exact date. Layoffs will be part of a larger wave, and they're asking me to just "sit tight & be quiet" and essentially do nothing for 4-6 weeks until HR is ready to do a bunch of layoffs & severance packages at once, and the internal comms team is ready to explain why/how the layoffs are happening to the whole company. Company is explicitly aware that I'm not doing anything at all day-to-day, and am just collecting a paycheck until they're ready to announce layoffs publicaly; they are fine with this. Severance package won't be a windfall by any means, but it'll be a few thousand dollars.
Company B: large public tech company, where I'm about to start. Taking this job involved a costly cross-country relocation to a much more expensive city, and their relocation bonus didn't even cover 30% of the expenses. So getting a boost from my old job's continued paycheck and small severace package would be a HUGE help here.
Companies A & B are not competitors and have no IP conflict between them.
Question: Can I stay employed by Company A for a short period, knowing I have literally nothing to do but sit and collect a paycheck, while also starting at Company B. The two jobs will overlap for roughly 6 weeks. Is this a risky move, or probably ok? Could Company B fire me for this if they were to find out?
Re: Risks of Working 2 Salaried Full Time Jobs While Waiting to Be Laid Off at One
Legally, you're allowed to do this, so no risk there. But yes, Company B could legally fire you if it finds out you're doing this. And Company A could legally withdraw its offer of a severance package and/or fire you early if it finds out you're doing this. Whether or not they will is something we can't tell you because we're not psychic.
Re: Risks of Working 2 Salaried Full Time Jobs While Waiting to Be Laid Off at One
Do not expect to receive severance unless you stay till the very last day Company A wants you there.
Company B COULD fire you because there is no law that says they can't. However, why would they? Why do they care if you're collecting a paycheck from someone else while you work for them, as long as the someone else isn't a competitor? It's much more likely that Company A would fire you so that they don't have to pay you severance. Or, for that matter, the paycheck for doing nothing.
It would not be illegal; there's no legal reason you can't do as you propose. But there's also no legal guarantee that it will work out the way you anticipate, either.