Legal Question in Employment Law in Georgia
Quiting A Job For Moral Reasons
I work for a IT company that gets warranty repair tickets in for many major companies and then we dispatch them out to subcontracted technicians nationwide. I have been working there over a year. In the last 6 months or so the company has come into some serious financial problems that is causing huge numbers of our subcontracted technicians to not get paid from us and when they are paid its because we need them to do other tickets and paying them is the only way they will accept more tickets. A large number of co-workers have been laid off just to pay their bills. I and others have to field anywhere from 20-50 complaints via email and phone daily from unpaid techs who just want an answer on what is going on. Management and accounts payable refuses to talk to anyone and sometimes will give us instructions to tell someone their check has been mailed and then weeks later when the tech never receives the check , they are angrily calling you because now you have lied to them. And the rip off reports online have mentioned my name.Right here at Xmas time too. Techs calling that can`t afford their kids Xmas because we won`t pay them. Could I get unemployment if I quit due to these conditions? It is hard to sleep at night. Please help
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Quiting A Job For Moral Reasons
While I respect the previous attorney and his response, I would have a different one. While it is difficult on a quit, I would argue that in your case you could quit and would be entitled to UIB. Yes it is up to the hearing officer but I believe the law is on your side. I would combine two provisions in the law: "Whether the employee had undergone harassment on the job of a substantial nature which would induce a reasonable person to quit in order to seek other employment."
Also, you left because you were protesting against working conditions. If you quit you will definitely need good counsel to represent you at the hearing.
Re: Quiting A Job For Moral Reasons
Quite possibly, if not probably, no. It will come down to the hearing officer's decision, but the bottom line is that you are quitting a job because you do not like it - rarely will that lead to unemployment benefits. With unemployment rates getting higher, many people would love to have that job. Be prepared to go without unemployment. On the other hand, having your name on the internet could cost you future jobs - you'll simply have to decide what to do. Of course, the best option is to try to get another job prior to leaving.
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