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I want to quit but dont know if iI will be entitled to unemployment

by Frankie

(Miami, Florida)

I want to quit my job, but don’t know if I will be entitled to receive unemployment benefits.

In my current job I have acquired excessive responsibilities that were not in my initial job description, which was a warehouse assistant (12 p/h).

Now I have been asked to perform administrative and sales tasks without any additional compensation. I informed the owner of the company that I didn’t mind as long as the extra responsibilities were accounted for. I asked for a raise which I haven’t received in 2yrs. And I was told that the economy was bad and there would be no raise and if I wanted to, I could go look for a job somewhere else. I was pretty much told to go “f” myself. I do not deserve this and know I am getting the short end of the deal here, but I don?t know if I will qualify for unemployment if I quit. Please help me with this citation.

Hi Frankie,

Generally, when an employer changes the terms, or conditions of employment significantly from what they were when you first accepted the job there MAY be good cause found for purposes of unemployment benefits.

The problem with me answering this question of whether cause is good enough, however, is that as individuals .. we interpret the word significantly, differently.

As well as my thought that Florida isn’t all that friendly to the claimant .. despite the following statute.

443.031 Rule of liberal construction.

This chapter shall be liberally construed in favor of a claimant of unemployment benefits who is unemployed through no fault of his or her own. Any doubt as to the proper construction of this chapter shall be resolved in favor of conformity with federal law, including, but not limited to, the Federal Unemployment Tax Act, the Social Security Act, the Wagner-Peyser Act, and the Workforce Investment Act.

When a person decides to quit their job and the decision is somehow contingent upon an assumption they can collect unemployment .. my experience has taught me they are usually climbing out on a weak limb .. or i.e. an unfulfillable burden to prove good cause.

The trouble I am having with your story is this statement: “I asked for a raise which I haven’t received in 2yrs.”

The problem lies in a general consensus, that when an employer substantially alters the terms and conditions, it is the reasonable time for the employer to take action to preserve the employment.

Wait too long to make the effort to preserve, or quit when the employer will not, or cannot accommodate a concern you have with regard to the change .. at some point you, the employee, will begin to look like you accepted the new terms and conditions .. to the reasonable person with the power to allow, or deny benefits.

Chris

Comments for I want to quit but dont know if iI will be entitled to unemployment
Mar 31, 2010 FLORIDA UNEMPLOYMENT QUESTION

by: Anonymous


THE COMPANY I WORKED FOR ALMOST 11 YEARS DISPLACED HUNDREDS OF EMPLOYEES DUE TO CORPORATWE DOWNSIZING IN OCT. I WAS GIVEN A 60 DAY NOTICE, AND IF NO POSITION WAS POSTED THAT I COULD APPLY FOR I WOULD BE TERMED IN DEC. I WAS, AND RECEIVED MY FULL PENSION PAYOUT THAT WENT INTO MY IRA. I ALSO RECEIVED 12 WEEKS OF SEVERANCE PAY. I STARTED ANOTHER JOB IN JAN, ONLY AFTER 12 DAYS MY DAUGHTER WAS INVOLVED IN A WRECK AND BROKE HER NECK AND NEEDED MY HELP SO I QUIT. I JUST TOOK ANOTHER JOB AND AFTER 5 DAYS RESIGNED DUE TO THE LOCATION AND HOURS NOT BEING WHAT I WAS TOLD ORIGINALLY. NOW I AM SEARCHING AGAIN AND A FREIND TOLD ME I COULD APPLY FOR UNEMPLOYMENT.
MY QUESTION IS CAN I DRAW UNEMPLOYMENT UNTIL I FIND ANOTHER JOB? AGAINT MY ORIGINAL EMPLOYER?

THANK YOU

Hi,

I’m certain that your first separation was a qualifying separation, but unemployment benefits are decided on the separation from the last employer and sometimes the more than one of the most recent last employers .. particularly in Florida that has such a lengthy voluntary quit disqualification (you must earn 17 times your weekly benefit amount).

The last quit is the one I will focus on for now. It is considered a voluntary quit and you must prove that it was for good cause if you hope to get benefits.

You mentioned the hours and the location not being the same as what you were told when you accepted the job. If you can prove this, it “might be” with good cause for quitting.

A misrepresentation of the employment at the time of hire by the employer can be good cause .. You will have to fill in the blanks for yourself as to whether the state will agree with you on the issue that the work was not “suitable employment” after the employer changed the terms.
Apr 28, 2010 Crappy Job

by: Anonymous


I work for a telemarketing company that seems to always cheat me out of my money once i hit a certain amount of sales. Not only that i’ve been out the office for the past week on vacation and when i got back things had changed. They really didn’t have any place for me to go. so i sat there until they knew what they wanted me to do. I ended up telling them to send me home until they have a place for me to go. My question is I want to quit do to unstability and them always cheating me out my money but would i be able to collect unemployment if i do.

Hi,

The unemployment rules for quitting a crappy job are the same as for quitting any type of job.

In fact who wants to quit a good job?

It’s just that you may have more opportunities for documenting the crappiness.

The standard for determining whether you have good cause is whether any other “reasonable person” would quit due to the crappy elements of your job.

What I keep saying is that everyone is well advised to make sure what what they think are the crappy elements, are first viewed from an objective point of view .. just to make sure I or anyone else would quit too due to the crappiness and then go about the business at hand of “trying to preserve the employment”.

This includes documenting to the employer .. just to let them know about the problems so they can’t claim that “if you had only let them know they could have shaped up and started behaving in a way that would of allowed you to continue working”, even if they really wouldn’t have.

I realize many people know that their efforts will be futile, but you have to try because what you are doing is gathering the ammunition you’ll need to convince the unemployment department that you had good cause .. not the employer.

You say they are cheating you out of money .. prove it.

I personally refuse the responsibility of making anyone’s decision by saying to quit a job.

I warn people about the burden and I even talk to people free for 15 minutes, or so about the cause, desire, or need to quit, but if an employer is cheating you out of money they owe you .. I ask, why aren’t you out their searching to find out if you have cause for a wage complaint as proof you made the necessary efforts to preserve your job.