hostile work environment?

I am in California and I haven’t quit yet, in fact I am trying to do what I can to keep the job until I find another, but at the same time trying to make sure I do all that is necessary to receive unemployment if it comes to that.

I have hated the job from the get go. My boss has been verbally abusive to me in front of other associates and customers. I have had 2 meetings with her and with the area manager to address this issue, but to no avail. i have asked to be transferred repeatedly, and even have a letter that one of the other managers i have worked for requested that I be transferred to his location. I also asked for this and the request was denied. I was given the reason of “I will figure out how to make things work between you and your boss, I am not transferring you”. That has been the answer every time I have asked. I have been with the company 8 months, have never been written up or counselled about performance, but the other day was given an “Action plan” for job performance. There were a lot of vague generalities in it (supposedly I am hurting morale and store productivity because of my bad performance, performance that had somehow never been addressed before now) and only one specific instance, a week prior to the plan. When I asked why this issue wasn’t addressed with me before, she said she was busy and hand’t had time. She then told me to put my resume out there, that this was the beginning of the formal process and as far as she was concerned the company and I would be parting ways within 60 days, as if the “Action plan” didn’t work, and she flat out told me she didn’t think it would, then formal write-ups were to follow and that it would end in termination, so I should find something before that happened.

So basically, my boss has trashed me from the beginning and has now thrown enough of a fit for it to get to this point. My question is, what documentation do I need and what do I need to be doing to make sure I get unemployment if it comes to that?

Hi, You know what, I always stress documenting .. don’t I:), but when I mention “official complaints with the appropriate department of the bureau of labor .. people get all freaked out and start worrying about rocking the boat .. just in case they can somehow squeak out of it all ending very badly.

Documenting proves action and at this point .. I would say your employer is beginning a process of “retaliating” because they want to get rid of you and you need to take some action .. like filing a complaint alleging retaliation with either the EEOC or the State of California’s Labor department.

This serves a purpose .. it provide documentation and it let’s the employer know you’re not as dumb as they think you are.

This is called using labor laws to protect yourself .. anything further from the employer and you have this “record of events” to point at and use if they continue to force you to work for this person and don’t take your request for a transfer a little more seriously.

This is how it works.