You have my sympathy, LVgeogeek, as well as my commiseration since the same basic thing happened to me a week or so ago. Working for tiny companies does indeed suck ass. On the plus side, my former employer is calling it a laid off/lack of work situation (he was whining about money for the past two months, shoulda seen it coming!) so I get unemployment without any kind of a fight. Yay.
Good luck on the job search!
Barring a difference in unemployment benefits, I think it was extended as a courtesy to LVgeogeek. Now when she’s applying for other jobs she’ll be able to honestly say she resigned from her previous job rather than say she was fired from it.
I could be both. See, Better to Quit or Get Fired?
Duh, you’re right. I skimmed the article too quickly before posting.
Sorry about your situation. I don’t know the details, but if you have savings to cover you while you find a new job, I agree with those saying it would be nicer to be able to tell prospective employers that you resigned.
Wow, I wish I were at a place in my life where $300/week was “token money”. I hope you find something else (and better!!) very soon. Sounds like they were being jerks 
Full salary through the end of the month? On the 24th? Jeez, guys, thanks. Would it have been possible to argue and get salary at least through February?
Last January the guy who sat next to me at my job got laid off and he told me they gave him three months. But since they’re asking for resignation instead of just out and out firing you, I don’t know if the situation is different.
While you have time on your hands 
, can you enlighten us on what a geologist does? The only image I can picture is someone sitting around the office waiting for the seismograph to signal that the “big one” is happening and the left coast just disappeared.
Good luck in your search. Your old employers were asshats.
I’m not sure about Nevada, but I don’t think employers can reveal why you no longer work there. They can verify you worked there and I think they can verify your salary, but I’m not even sure about that. You may want to check.
As someone who has done the whole “Nevada Unemployment” thing far more than I care to admit, I’ll tell you that you will qualify. Call it “resign” or call it “fired”, it doesn’t matter. You did not leave voluntarily, and you didn’t steal anything or kill anybody. The employeer set the change of conditions (meaning, not letting you show up anymore) in motion. So get online and claim your money! Its easy and the checks come like clockwork. Forget “token” money. You earned it, its yours. Claim it.
And don’t back out of your house. Now is a good time to buy! You’ll get another job soon enough.
Don’t let that stop you. You can be certain THEY know about it; they’re just hoping that YOU don’t know about it. Find an attorney who specializes in employment law and pay for one consultation to see if you have a case.
LVgeogeek, if I were in your situation I would bone up on NV. unemployment insurance. Assuming your description of the circumstances is accurate, your employer is probably trying to avoid your applying for unemployment insurance. I would apply anyway, perhaps waiting until you get the final check and the letter of reccomendation. The maximum benefit, which you likely qualify for, is $362, not $300. You were forced to submit your resignation and the promise of a few days pay and a feel good letter were just a ploy to get you to comply. If you have any proof (because you former employer will almost certainly lie) that you were asked for your resignation and also asked to leave immediately, I think you’ve got an excellent case and I suspect the State of Nevada frowns on such a practice.
That sucks, LVGeogeek. Losing your job is bad enough, but losing it through no fault of your own makes it even worse. I agree that your old company is run by jackasses.
I sent you an email - check the account you have listed here as well.
Sorry, I keep forgetting that there are people in this world who actually have some class. When it comes to losing my job, my inner redneck just pops out all over the place. The only time I was ever in a situation similar to yours, they offered me six months’ salary to sign a resignation letter they’d written. It was all about the money – my pride went right down the crapper when I saw that check.
You will do well by doing good.
$1,200 a month is “token money”?? Must be nice…
I call it paying me to surf the internet. 
Look, here’s the deal. You got let go from your tiny company, probably so someone’s cousin or brother or whatever can take your place. It sucks, but it happens, especially in tiny family owned busineses. Forget about suing or whatever and just focus on making sure you stay elligable for unemployment and start looking for another job.
It was most certainly NOT nice when I went from $155,000 a year to $248 a week and was unemployed for eight months. It’s not at all nice when you can’t make your mortgage or car payment because your income has suddenly become nearly non-existent. $300 a week is fine for a college student, not so fine for someone with family and debt.
I think most people are arguing that it is better than nothing, which is what she has now.
But I think her point is it can be exponentially more difficult to get your next job if you have a big “FIRED” on your resume – whatever reason given – and no recommendation from that employer.
She’s probably in a better position than the rest of us to assess whether handicapping her resume in that manner is worth $300 a week or not.
Regarding the “token” unemployment money.
Fortunately, Mr Geek has a good job and that we don’t need me to get the unemployment check money. We have savings, almost no debt (with the exception of the car payments and the current mortgage).
I am sorry if I made light of the money available to people who are unemployed. I have been there before in the past, when I was unemployed for 6 months back in 2004 when we really needed the extra money.