I Made a Huge Mistake.

by Heather

(Virginia)

I was laid off last fall, from a job I loved. I was approved for unemployment, but have had trouble finding anything to replace it. So I took a $3 an hour pay cut and went to my former job part time. Since starting, my boss has made inappropriate sexual comments to and about me. He has used the schedule as punishment (this is a 24/7 place) if you make him unhappy. Will I continue to receive unemployment if I quit? I can’t work under these conditions any longer.

Need To Focus on the Burden of Voluntarily Quitting a Job

Hi Heather,

Remember this, you may of made a huge mistake, but now you’re looking for a way that might help you correct it before you quit .. and that in my opinion .. is a good thing.

First let me say I understand why anyone should ask this question before quitting a job for whatever the reason might be, especially if it’s a boss making one’s job, that they love .. intolerable, but I do not understand why people ask questions that completely ignore the burden of proving a voluntary quit was attributable to the employer.

To attribute fault to an employer when quitting isn’t a whole lot different than what an employer does prior to discharging a person for misconduct .. but it often does take a shift in the employees attitude to recognize a distinction between being subordinate to the reasonable rules and policies of an employer .. and subservient to just a “bad boss” suffering from a demi-god complex of some sort .. with some people.

Smart employers who get how UI works will at least attempt to document their efforts that did in fact make the employee aware of a specific deficit in their behavior, or performance running contrary to whatever the employer rules and policies might be .. with a document called a signed acknowledgement that gets rid of any employee argument they were not aware of the employer’s rules, policies, or expectations of all employees in general.

So, I ask you specifically, what sort of proof do you have at this point before quitting that might help you argue later for UI benefits, that you made the company above this boss’s head aware of how he is treating you now?

At-will employment is a “business relationship”, not a personal relationship. Rise above the fray of your own emotions and find that objectivity I think is essential to satisfy any state’s UI laws.