Ok, here’s the situation. I work at this sales job where you’re expected to meet monthly quotas. If you don’t make it, the president calls you into his office where he asks you to sign a paper in which you agree to work for straight commission.
Anyways, from what I’ve heard from my colleagues (and former employees) is that you tell him I’m not quitting and I’m not signing the paper.
Now, here’s the curveball. His response is then “well were not going to pay you your salary”. And you go back to your office until the vice president comes around and tells you to leave. No pink slip, no meetings with HR, nothing.
How can I protect myself to ensure that I will qualify for unemployment?
Can people worried about losing their sales job (which they don’t make commission on) afford to just get a lawyer willy nilly? That’s a serious question. If I ever have to get a lawyer all of a sudden, or a financial advisor or whatever, I will certainly be spending some of my commish on that. If my sales slip to where I don’t make commission, then I can’t afford a lawyer either.
Hey, maybe they will offer to have you work straight commish just temporarily and in the mean time retrain/coach you. Of course, if they agree to that, you gotta get that in writing.
IANAL, but I seem to recall that at least some unemployment offices in the US will give you unemployment benefits if you are fired for “poor performance” as opposed from being fired for misconduct. It makes sense, in a way, since an employer who wanted to lay someone off but didn’t want their unemployment insurance payment to go up could simply alter the employee’s goals to an impossible level, expecting and hoping that they fail, then drum them out for failing to meet those goals.
It’s a problem, but I’m not too worried about it. This place is like a revolving door and it seems that no one else I’ve talked to who have been “let go” have a problem getting unemployment.
The whole thing strikes me as very shady but really I’m just trying to figure it out.
I would be looking for a new job, but in the mean time, I’m not kidding about requesting coaching/retraining. Sometimes, that can help you in the long run. The fact that you reached out for that help, but they weren’t willing to give it may be a good thing for the board to hear if you have to fight for unemployment benefits. Or, less cynically, the coaching may help you actually improve sales and make some good commission!
I appreciate that but I don’t feel it would make much of a difference. It’s entirely based on numbers and if you don’t have them there’s the door.
Also, they want you to do good, but are not too worried if you don’t. See, it’s a system in which nearly all of the money is made by clients paying for our service. Now, the fee’s are somewhat expensive and in most cases people have to pay for it over a period of time. Even when the company gets rid of me, these clients still have their projects to pay for. All the files go to the top.
Apply for unemployment.
See if it is contested.
If not, then there you go.
If so, then argue your point. You did not quit, you simply refused to agree to arbitrary changes in your pay structure and appeared to be fired for it.
See how it goes.
Before paying a lawyer, call the labor board or department or what have you. They probably have been through all of this before, and are used to some of the tricks that employers use.
Scotty, whatever state you live in has an office that regulates labor practices. it might be called 'The Department of Labor" or “Wages and Hours” or something like that. If you have a complaint about a labor practice they are the ones to go to. There is no cost to you, and they will investigate. They may be able to advise you on the best course of action. You can also speak to the Unemployment commission, or whatever its called in your state - the agency that actually makes the unemployment insurance determinations.
What Chimera said. Also, appeals are often successful. For most companies, unemployment is just part of the cost of doing business, and they don’t have much incentive to fight it most of the time. Always file an appeal, it can’t hurt.
I assume if you do choose to sign and work for commission, then you are ineligible for unemployment insurance? Or at least, you set the minimum they will pay by lowering your net wages for a while before leaving.
Plus, when they don’t like your performance and you are on commission only, they do not have to fire you - you make less and less until you finally get fed up and go work somewhere else. You have abandoned your job, quit, you are not eligible for UI…
I understand the USA, unlike Canada, unemployment insurance penalizes a company for firing/laying off an employee, so they have an incentive to screw you over as long as it means you quit so they don’t have to be responsible for dismissing you.
In Canada there is the term “constructive dismissal”. If the onditions of your employment have changed significantly to your detriment, you are considered to have been layed off if you choose not to accept the changes. (I.e. lower wage, move office to another city, demotion). Of course, in Canada, dismissal without cause (cause= theft,insubordination, other serious offences) means separation pay. The longer you worked there, the more the employer owes; for professional jobs this can hit a month per year of service. Minimum is typically 2 to 3 weeks pay. An employer who treats a dismissed employee badly may be liable for “Wallace damages”, several months’ pay as a penalty for mistreatment. Of course, many US states by contrast are right-to-work, which means you haven’t one.