Legal Question in Employment Law in Florida
eligiblity for unemployment compensation
After 5 years at a company, a co-worker and I were changed from a salary to
an hourly rate. The first paycheck (2 weeks later) was substantially smaller
due to the company being closed after a hurricane. They acknowledged the
employees on a salary but not the ones on hourly pay. A week later my co-
worker was fired for insubordination: she didn't want to stay after work &
yelled at supervisor, so I stayed & finished the job for both of us. A week later
I was called to HR & told that I had also been insubordinate & I was issued a
warning. At the end of that day (Friday 9/9/05) I resigned. I really quit
because financially was not worthy--couldn't even pay my mortgage. I
requested unemployment on 01/24/06 for the change in the nature of my
contract, without notice and/or agreement on my part. The Company
appealed saying I resigned due to such warning. There is a phone call
arbitration scheduled for 3/6/06. Any suggestions? Many thanks, TB
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: eligiblity for unemployment compensation
Generally, you can't get unemployment if you resign. However, if you were forced to resign because, for example, the company unilaterally changed the terms of your employment and lowered your salary and then found you to be insubordinate when you were not, then you can claim that you were constructively discharged. The facts of your case are not very strong in support of such a claim (lowering salary is generally not constructive discharge, and saying you are insubordinate but ony giving you a warning is not sufficent to crerate a situation that you have no choice but to resign), but you can still make the claim in good faith, especially since your colleage was fired right after the slary changed and it might have looked like you would be next since they warned you about the same conduct.
Whatever you do, be sure to tell the truth. It's more important to be able to look in the mirror than to get a few weeks of pay while you look for another job. And that's the bigger point. Take this as an opportunity to get into a better situation and start your search right away if you haven't already.
I hope you find something much better.
Good luck,
Jeff Sheldon
The Sheldon Law Firm
Caveat: This is general advice only and should not be relied upon as legal advice because all facts and circumstances are not known to the author.
Re: eligiblity for unemployment compensation
I agree with the last post. However, your question raises issues of salary versus hourly rates of pay. If you worked more than 40 hours in any week while on salary and should have been paid hourly at that time, your employer may owe you additional pay. I suggest you speak with an attorney regarding that issue.
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