(Nevada)
I recently was hired to replace another manager, turns out they were the one training me.
First week of training focused on the back of the house. Myself and another trainee witnessed severe health code issues. When asked if we had questions, or issues we both mentioned what we witnessed.
Thats when everything started.
The other trainee quit when our trainer started to harass us. On my first week review I was presented with a documentation as being unfocused and told by the trainer I need to think about whether this is the job for me since I wasn’t focusing on the right things. Apparently when being trained in the kitchen he felt you shouldn’t focus on cleanliness or sanitation.
I had a meeting with my District Manager who brushed it off and listed off everything he hated about the guy and that’s why he was being replaced.
Two weeks later my trainer calls me in the office to tell me I’m not doing the closes to par, to which I responded, no one has taken the time to train me.
I asked for training and constructive criticism so I could better do my job. Again he brought up the issue from the first week saying that shows my focus isn’t right and that now my regional was concerned about me in the training program. I was speechless and continued to do my job. I contacted my district manager who again said don’t worry about anything.
A few days later my regional manager came down so I brought up my concerns about my trainer holding a grudge and not training me properly. My regional confirmed he was holding a grudge and told me to manage my trainer. Also, he claimed the trainer misinformed me and in fact, he was concerned the trainer was not training me right because the regional really liked me.
Every day after that I was told my closing was no good, yet they had me training other managers from other locations on closing.
To cut things short the final straw came when my trainer and another manager told the staff to not listen to me.
I immediately called my district manager who said this would not be tolerated.
The next day I go into work and was presented with 4 write ups for just random things.
I was told that’s what the district manager had told them to do, and again he brought up the incident from the first week.
I called my district manager immediately who claimed to know nothing about it. My dm claimed that’s not what he had instructed the trainer to do. I informed my DM the environment had grown increasingly hostile to the point where the trainer had instructed staff members to ease drop in on my phone conversations. I told my dm that I was not being allowed to do my job. I reminded him of the numerous times I asked for a transfer as I loved my job and did not want to quit. He basically said his hands were tied until I passed the three month mark.
I just couldn’t take it anymore and left. I applied for unemployment since before this job I had a steady job for years and had been laid off so had been receiving unemployment before this job came along. Needless to say I was denied and not sure if I should appeal. Any advice would be great! Thanks!
Hi,
That’s a lot of stuff happening in the space of .. well I’m not really sure how far away the three month mark would of been and the first thing that would of had alarm bells going off for me was a DM or an RM bad mouthing the manager training you. What you told me they said to you is contradictory to the best interest of their employer. Why would any DM or RM have a manager they don’t trust to do their job .. training new managers .. supposedly to replace that training manager. Makes no sense.
Of course I would appeal, because I suspect, the the goal after that first week might of been to get you to quit one way or another. But, how you are going to “prove” you had good cause to quit because of the “harassment” is not obvious to me, at least not from the info you provided.
I myself .. learned a long time ago to never just “say” something or listen to something without also finding a way to get it down on paper .. even if that is an email printed out.
It’s called documenting. And it’s how you add weight to testimony, once at an unemployment appeal hearing.
And at that point, I always advise an individual to be represented .. to save them the grief of having to appeal to a board of review .. because your odds of winning one of those to get the matter remanded back down to the lower level for another “first” hearing .. are minute.
Not sure if you read any Q&A’s where I go off on one of my tangents about the importance of documenting incidents that happen at work .. that shouldn’t of happened at work. Especially if an employer is only pretending to show concern about a low level manager creating “potential liability” for the business.
Although it is foolish, to blindly trust someone in HR, that is the department concerned most about how what one employee does that may end up costing the company money due to official labor complaints and lawsuits that may of taken the company out of compliance. Ultimately, the company is responsible for what it “allows” to go on .. but only if an employee can “prove” what happened not in compliance.
In short, you mentioned some sort of serious health code violations at the beginning of your employment to a manager supposedly, about to be replaced and he retaliated .. however what I question is whether he did so under his own steam .. or the direction of a DM and maybe his boss, the RM.
Whatever, it sounds like they were effective at keeping you away from those with the responsibility of issues of compliance with all the varying laws a business needs to be concerned about.
I think I can assume safely, since you mentioned a DM and a regional manager that the organization has an HR department. I would also think, you were provided with an employee handbook as well, and it included information on the company’s policy for going about grieving a problem with the work.
I for one, know how critically important it is to at least try the tools and resources provided by an employer to settle things before you quit .. because I also believe that when dealing with problems and using the tools and resources that you also, must document your efforts.
This is what I focus on, or at least look for with regard to getting measly unemployment because it’s the employer that pays for what amounts to thousands of dollars paid over the course of 26 weeks. One claim might not sound like much, but every claim affects a company’s UI tax rate for all employees.
It’s in an employer’s interest to try to get people to quit .. because they can usually rebut with the argument the employee did not exhaust all alternatives to preserve the employment they were made aware of at time of hire.
All documentation .. found in an employee handbook .. an employer’s go to tool to deny unemployment benefits.
I know, I may not sound hopeful, but then there can be so many variables to what happens at an unemployment hearing .. including the quality and/or personalities of the people involved.
One of the reason I strongly recommend representation is their “skills” in cross examining witnesses .. especially when they lie.
It’s like poker Nevada .. Reps are good at picking up on tells and exploiting them to discredit testimony that might otherwise be found the most credible .. by the hearing officer who has to make a decision about benefits.
Although I acknowledge that luck can work in someone’s favor .. i prefer actively doing whatever is necessary to reduce the odds of losing.
Chris
Nevada Unemployment Appeal Representation
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