Impending Bankruptcy 7

[Beggar]

I'm not sure where to post this so I'll put it here since it's sort of "How Do I Get Ahead" issue.

The start-up for which I work is looking ever closer to flaming out.

Has anybody ever been through this?
Do you have any advice?
Are there any steps that I should take in order to protect myself as best I'm able?

I've got a "guaranteed" severance deal but I'm guessing that with bankruptcy, that paper's worth about as much as the stuff on the roll in my bathroom.

I'm chewing up my vacation accrual as fast as I can, just in case.

Any other thoughts?

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How much do YOU owe?

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

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[Beggar]

One bit of good news:

I spoke today with the bank who issues our company plastic and they said that:

If the charges are made by the authorized user (me) for legitimate company expenses (yep), I am not the guarantor on the account since (a) I did not personally apply for the credit account, (b) I was issued the card at the direction of, and for the convenience of the company, and (c) I am not a company officer (nor even a shareholder, for that matter).

That's a relief since just before that call, I checked the account and found that they've started carrying a balance and have begun making minimum payments.

Beyond that, I'm still getting paid!!!

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How much do YOU owe?

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

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[casseopeia]

Glad to hear the good news! But it looks like the company you are working for is on a downward spiral. It's never good news that only the minimum payments are being made. I suppose I don't have to remind uyou to keep your receipts!

My situation awhile back was a bit different. I was the majority shareholder of a corporation that I owned with a former husband. My company credit card debt was about $40,000, for business travel charges made by myself and about 5 other employees. As a majority stockholder and officer of the corporation, I was responsible for the debt.

I explored the option of dissolution of the corporation during the nastiest part of the divorce, which is why I know about bankruptcy laws. I didn't actually exercise that option, but caused a lot of grief when I refused charges on my credit card for travel to cities where I had never been. Every charge back by the travel agency carried a $15 surcharge. There were hundreds of charge-backs. One of my few victories.

I don't know much about secured creditors, but here's a link to findlaw.com. It might be a bit 'Too Much Information'-ish, though.

http://library.findlaw.com/2000/Jun/22/130692.html

"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"

 

[kontiki99]

When all of Eastern Air Lines unions went on strike years ago, the union employees discovered that the company had stopped making health insurance payments over a month before the strike deadline.

It was impossible to maintain health insurance coverage under the COBRA laws, the 30 day period had elapsed.

That was corporate warfare to encourage people to cross the picket line. Never the less, you might want to make sure your medical insurance coverage remains intact.

I worked for Eastern then and Delta recently.

At Eastern I was one of the last to go. I was determined that would never happen again.

At Delta I was probably among the first of the non-insiders to go. Much better to get out there before folks with similar qualifications can glut the job market.

Also, just a word about the mental health aspect of these situations. It’s not always apparent but our employment and things that threaten our employment can really trigger some very deep feelings of discomfort. I believe people in the situation often don’t realize how deeply they are affected or why they feel so bad.

It can be hard to sleep, eat etc. The prolonged stress can really take it’s toll too. It’s good to maintain an exercise program, stay in touch with friends and continue to enjoy whatever spiritual/emotional outlets you feel comfortable with.

One of the things I learned at Eastern was that a single guy can survive anything. Not everyone survived though. Some people committed suicide even though they knew it was coming.

Make sure you don’t ignore your physical and mental well being through the tough times. Your situation is probably among the top 5 stressful situations.

I sincerely wish you good luck.

 

[casseopeia]

kontiki99, you make some excellent points! Taking care of your body and mind through exercise is critical, especially in stressful circumstances.

"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"

 

[Beggar]

Make sure you don’t ignore your physical and mental well being through the tough times. Your situation is probably among the top 5 stressful situations.

Good advice. I know it down inside but it's good to be reminded. The situation is definitely taking its toll on my sleep and my overall attitude.

A new 24-hr gym opened just down the street and I think I'm going to join so that I can go work out when I'm struck by the middle-of-the-night worry bug.

I'm contemplating a heart-to-heart with the CEO to get a better handle on just how close we are to insolvency. I went through this at another company a few years back and the uncertainty of it was almost (*almost*) worse than when it finally came to pass.

It just sucks because this job is the best job I've had - by far - and it's highly unlikely that I'll find anything that'll come close to it.

I'm formulating a recovery plan which is considering both a mid-life foray into grad school at the local university or a career change into nursing or teaching.

--------------------
How much do YOU owe?

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

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[Heckler]

Beggar,

Sorry to here about your situation it reminds me of myself about three years ago. It was late 2000, I had just jumped ship after the semiconductor equipment industry took a dive and I was a contract ME for a company that ended up getting sold to its German competitor.

So I took a job with an aerospace startup. The owner had previously started and sold a very sucessful company in the Bay Area (Nor-Cal). If I told you the name you would no it but I will keep the lid since I still do contract work for them. This company had one really solid contract to keep the three owners, one ME, one EE, one Systems Engineer, one good EET and one dog gainfuly employed. Then my boss tried to grow the company on wishful thinking or should I dare say "ego". He ramped up hiring some high paid and highly talented engineers and corporate officers. Well those contracts never got awarded because after 9/11 contract monies got diverted to other efforts. Remember, we had one healthy contract that could feed only a few. We were starving and had a few paycheck issues. I started noticing we were getting paid by hand written company checks not by our paycheck service. So the very minute unpon receiving my paycheck I would get on my motorcycle and race to the bank. We would call it the mad dash for the cash. Over the next eight months those highly paid engineers and officers were let go. I left after two years because the atmosphere got really bad because of the cash flow. I started getting calls from venders and had problems buying hardware because nobody would extend us credit. I hear now the company reinvented itself and is doing okay. They paid me to be a contractor.

Casseopeia - great information spoken from experience I assume?



Best Regards,

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SW2005 SP 5.0 & Pro/E 2001
Dell Precision 370
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Never argue with an idiot. They'll bring you down to their level and beat you with experience every time.