Legal Question in Employment Law in California
Fired but supervisor says I quit
I was an at will employee at a company that I'd been working at for 3 weeks, I was working at an event the company was holding a Saturday (my regular off day). I was not getting paid for working at the event, my supervisor had told I could take comp time in the future. After two an a half hours of working I left the event I told the supervisor that I was going home. When arrived at work the following Monday my supervisor asked me for my keys to the office and said that I had left the event without authorization and that this was not going to work for the company. I asked if I was being terminated and my supervisor said yes. On Friday of the same week I received a letter stating that when I left the event I had voluntarily quit and that as of that Saturday I was no longer an employee of the company. I do not agree that I quit my job, I was fired. Does my supervisor have a right to decide that I quit? Do I have any legal rights? Will this stop me from getting uemployment benefits
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Fired but supervisor says I quit
It sounds like you were terminated. Generally the question of a quit or termination is based on a determination as to who was the moving party. Thus, in your case, you did not take action to quit, the employer reacted you your conduct and terminated you.
You are ineligible for unemployment benefits if you voluntarily quit without good cause or if you were terminated for willfull misconduct. If you were terminated because you refused to continue working on a day off without pay, that would not constitute misconduct in California. However, if you were on a pay status and you walked off the job, even if it was on your day off, that would constitute misconduct. Further, if you voluntarily quit because you were not getting paid for the work, that would probably be good cause for quitting. However, the real determination of the reasonableness of your action would be your pay records. If the employer paid you for the Saturday work, you will have a difficult time establishing that walking off the job was reasonable.
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