I worked at home in Indiana, for a company based in VA. I’d been on the job exactly 9 months to the day. In the beginning we have a grace period, where we are allowed to slide so to speak for low average handle times on the phones, or for quality scores. So when I filled out the unemployment questions online, I did say that I had at some point, acceptable reviews. The scores given your time with the company are soley at the disgression of your supervisor, if you’re meeting goals or not for that supervisors team.
After I’d been there 6 months I was put on a success plan, to raise my quality scores. In the email it outlined that I would get extra coachings with my boss as well as meetings with the QA lady.The duration of the plan was mid June to end of August. Our scores are based on 8 total reviewed calls per month. 4 by the QA lady and 4 evals by the supervisor during a weekly coaching.
I went into the success plan due to a low QA average, and raised it by nearly 10 percent by the end of July. I only got one meeting with the QA lady, on July 28th. (the plan already being two thirds over). Beginning of August I had raised my score again another 10 percent per meeting at end of July. During the month of August, my final month on this plan, it was as if my boss were avoiding me entirely. All of my coachings were conviently missed, never made up, and not scheduled with a substitute supervisor for make up. I had no idea what my scores were for August, as I had no weekly evals and no QA scores emailed to me. When I got a coaching at the end of August, while my boss was on vacation, I complained to that supervisor that I had no scores. She was unable to get to the scores and said she would send an email to the QA lady trying to obtain them. Nothing was sent. Though she did appologize on behalf of my boss – or rather did agree that this was unfortunate that he was lax in his job.
I could only assume that since I’d already gone up 20% in scores I’d still be on the rise.
The success plan goal was that I get 85% when the team average is somewhere in the low 70s. I ended up with a 71.6% and was allowed to keep my job into Sept. Where my boss implied that I was off the success plan.(though he said that if anyone looked at my scores he would be asked why I was allowed to remain) He issued me two written warnings during all of this time, not for quality scores but for forgetting a step in a script, and for missing certain parts of the greeting and closing of a call.
In the end, Sept 16th, during the coaching he said he would be recommending to his boss that we “part ways”. On Saturday the 19th, last time I worked, he pulled me off the phone and served me with a termination notice email, which he did not require me to sign. He just instructed me to clock out and log out of the system. Before I did so, I went back into my email, copy and pasted my hours so I’d have record of my last two weeks time card, and I forwarded the termination notice to myself. Later when I opened them I found two things very odd. My hours for that Saturday morning were not showing. And the termination letter simply stating “per our conversation, employment is terminated immediately”, there was a copy of my attendance sheet. I thought it was an odd thing to attach, if anything should have been attached it should have been a list of my QA scores and evals. It made me think he was perhaps somehow making it look like I skipped hours that morning.
In the exit interview/phone conversation, he said that I failed to make an improvement. To which I responded that yes I had made an improvement, and he said “well it wasn’t enough”.
Assuming I’m fired for the success plan that I thought I’d been removed from at the beginning of Sept. I applied for unemployment in Indiana (not sure if I should have applied in the state the company is based or my own state), where it is pending, with the things delaying payment being “job performance”. That section of the unemployment page confused me and I hope I didn’t fill out anything wrong. I was able to put a paragraph into the box about the success plan and his missing coachings and not sending my scores.
Being immediately kicked out the the computer system, I have had a hard time locating phone numbers of anyone in HR where I could report this or request a copy of my evals. I have sent the ones to myself that I did have, and printed in cronological order would be my best proof (for now) that he failed me by not assisting me in my final month.
I felt like an expendable crew member, that he wanted to replace me (and others, who are getting the exact same treatment) with newer agents. And that he would have stopped at nothing to make sure I failed.
I now have a phone number for an HR department where you can leave an anonymous complaint about another co-worker or you can leave your contact details for them to contact you. I left my name and phone number, but I am unsure they’ll return my call now that I have been wiped off their system.
I’m sure you understand that it is vital to me to get unemployment, as a single mom. I’m afraid they will appeal against me, which in my state is backed up for months (I have a boyfriend that has been waiting on his appeal hearing date since July and they have told him the system is backed up with people).
As I said earlier, I am afraid that by answering the question “had I ever had a good review” with “yes” I may have made a mistake. There was a lengthy set of questions that followed asking if things had changed in my job requirements, and yes, that changes all the time, particularly a seasonal promotion where we were expected to upsell the product and have a shorter call handle time. I should have also stated (on the form) that more was expected of me at the disgression of my boss, based on having been there a few more months.
I’m sure they probably have a department especially set aside to fight unemployment claims. After reading loads of scenarios on this website, and your answers I am a little more prepared than I was before I filed the claim. I did show a huge improvement, and I tried very hard in those 3 months. Hopefully it’s not hopeless.
Hi,
No, it’s not hopeless, but it’s not a slam dunk either because of the employer documentation which appears reasonable.
I would say your strength would be on focusing on the lack of training sessions and the lack of assessments of your performance scores toward the end. That the improvement plan specified.
In other words you need to shift the burden back to the employer as being the reason you could not complete the goals.
Thereby rendering you unable to achieve the goals through no fault of your own.
This of course is done through your testimony and evidence and very often through your cross examination of the employer’s witness through which you tell more of your story about it being there fault you couldn’t achieve the goals.
The huge improvement can be detrimental to you though because it shows you were capable of improving .. just not in the time frame required by the employer.
But if approached correctly, it could add more relevance to an argument that if the employer had followed through with the coachings and training sessions, your numbers to let you know how you were doing. You might have attained your goals. Again, the employer’s fault.
Now, let’s talk about Indiana for a second. Some of the court decisions I’ve read recently make me wonder how impartial they are being or if they are “protecting their shambles of a fund” from being forced to borrow more $$ from the Fed. Gov’t
So, if I were you, I’d do some searches for Indiana unemployment decisions + fired for poor performance.
I would direct you to a precedent manual, but I can’t find one for Indiana. I’d direct you to a different state manual, but you may read something that is irrelevant to Indiana. Although it may be a great tool for understanding the basic concept of how decisions are arrived at.
It’s within these “explanations” of how decisions are arrived at that we learn the elements that either help us get benefits or stop us.
If you happen to find a great research tool for Indiana unemployment decisions, be sure to let us all know where to find it.
I always include links to a state’s explanation of how benefits are arrived at in my answers .. when I know where to find them.
Chris
Comments for Job Performance,Customer Service Rep, Work at Home, Indiana, Co. based in VA
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