Layoffs & Retirement in Georgia

Specifically for Georgia, if an employee is of retirement age & has retirement savings in the company, must the company offer the employee the retirement package before/during the layoff process?

Again, for Georgia, if the employee (retirement-eligible through the company) is terminated, for reasons other than layoffs, must the company offer the employee his retirement package?

Thanks, in advance, for your replies!

What do you mean by "retirement package"?

And what do you mean by "retirement savings in the company"?

The employee has worked for the company 10 years & is over 50 years old.  According to the company, the employee is eligible for retirement.  The employee has a 401k with the company (not sure if it is just an 01k now...with the economy & recession).

Thanks :-)

I get it now.

If you were fired, laid off (and by the way fired and laid off mean the same thing - no work, no money) or quit today, you would obviously be entitled to your 401k consisting of your contributions, your earnings, and any vested contributions of your employer.

If the company contributed to a pension plan and you were eligible to collect monthly benefits upon your leaving the company it would depend on the terms and conditions of the pension plan itself as to whether you got any of that money if you were fired or quit.

If there is a pension plan, you should have a pension plan booklet that gives you those details.

Look for the definition of a "qualifying event."