I am likely to be out of a job in a month because I offended some people at work - this was not something I did on purpose and I did not even know I offended them until recently.
I live in NC if it matters. What are the odds I can collect unemployment if I am fired but not laid off due to lack of work? I would go ahead and quit but in that case I will not get unemployment. Right now I figure I will stick it out as long as I can in the hope I can get unemployment benefits.
I was fired (not laid off) and I was able to collect some unemployment until I got another job. Quit that one so I was ineligible for further help but there you go, I think you’ll likely be able to get it.
No harm in trying. I didn’t even have to talk to anyone- just filled in my info in a form online and got a card in the mail a few weeks later.
You know we’re all curious to know what you did, right? 
Short version: Basically what I did was not tell someone I had stuff ready right away, I told them a day later. Seems like a minor thing but in this case I guess it was not. Also one of the people can’t get along with anyone, not just me.
It really depends on whether your employer will fight it or not. If they’re letting you go over something that’s truly so minor, then I seriously doubt they would fight your request for unemployment–they would expect you to file. But if they’re firing you for cause, or are just dicks or hard up for cash, then your claim might have to be arbitrated.
I’d say you have a fairly good chance of winning since it sounds like a difference of opinions. But watch your ass, they may just be waiting for you to make the tiniest procedural slip-up, then fire you for cause. It’ll be a lot harder to win if they had a good reason (on paper) to fire you.
Might I suggest talking to your supervisor or HR to get this conflict managed? Why do you think you’ll be the one fired when the other person has a history of being an anti-team pain in the ass?
Being fired is not necessarily a bar to unemployment, at least in my state, which is not North Carolina. In fact, we have language in reported cases to the effect that an incident can be reasonable grounds for termination of employment, yet still not rise to the level of misconduct so as to disqualify the claimant from receiving benefits.
The person who I ticked off is the queen bee, they think she walks on water. She can do no wrong. My boss totally sides with her , he is of no help to me.
I would file for unemployment, definitely. Local standards vary, but generally the courts are pretty aware that employers will trump up ridiculous things to fire you. Unless you have a strong paper trail against you (e.g. multiple written warnings) or some really clear cause (e.g. theft, violence) then the odds are against your employer to win a for-cause exemption.
Also, don’t sign anything if they fire you. Companies can be tricksy and have gotten people to “agree” that they resigned, presumably because this “looks better” to future employers, coincidentally removing the unemployment benefit option.
Edited to add: Start keeping written records now of everything that happens, and the date/time. Backup anything that may help, e.g. emails that you may not have access to in future. There’s always the chance of a wrongful termination suit on top of things.
Everything depends on your own situtation. I worked in a hotel in H/R we fought EVERY single claim. Even if we told you, “you’re getting laid off, not enough work,” We would fight your claim.
It was a different job market then.
No matter what, even if you quit, file unemployment. First of all it takes a bit to get your money so if you get let go on Thursday you want to be in that unemployment office on Friday.
Second some employers are so overwhelmed or lazy, they never fight ANY claim.
What happens is you file a claim and the unemployment office notifies your employer you filed. The employer can fight it or do nothing.
If you’re fired for miscondcut you will not collect, though it depends on the arbitrator.
So you file and your employer contests the claim. Then it goes to an arbitrator who decides.
This is where eveyone is different. In one hotel we let a person go because she was chronically late. The arbitrator ruled for us. Saying that was negligence on the part of the person. We fired another person for the same reason, same dept, same circumstances. A different arbitrator said “Well, she did TRY to show up, you could’ve found SOMETHING ELSE for her,” and we lost.
Same thing, same circumstances, two different results.
The best advice I can give you is, file and then present your case if it’s appealed.
But you have one advantage, you’re still working. It’s always easier to find a job if you’re still employed.
So as soon as you’re done reading this, immediately start updating or making a resume. 24 hours from now you should have a completed resume. That means it’s printable, you’ve checked with three people to assure youself they’ll give you references and you’re ready to go.
You should spend the the next five days looking for work. By Monday, Nov 8th you should already have been online looking for work and have applied for jobs.
Don’t worry about looking for a job if you have one or that you’re employer will find out. Just tell someone where you work, “Gee with this tough economy, I won’t have much money for Christmas presents. I may have to find a second job to earn me some Christmas money.” That’ll excuse will cover your butt with nosy co-workers.
It seems like you know you’re on the way out. It’s better to walk out then to be shown the door. So in all sincerity don’t take this lightly. Start looking NOW, forewarned is forearmed
Good luck to you
I have been looking for a job for a month. So far no leads but I think I have one that I am going to call back later today.
For Markxxx or others, I’ve always wondered about this.
I assume it makes financial sense for every company to fight every unemployment claim even in a layoff situation simply because some people will have their self esteem completely destroyed by being let go so they won’t respond to a denial of benefits. Likewise, fluiddruid suggests some companies use trickery to get you to resign on the basis that it looks better on your resume.
To this I ask, are there real penalties to companies that pursue this action? I understand this is bad business and almost surely illegal, but I’m curious whether anyone is really out there enforcing this type of thing for businesses that engage in these practices. Is someone at the Department of Labor actually going to notice “Hey, this is the 20th claim that XYZ Corporation has disputed. In fact, they have never once agreed to letting an employee get unemployment because everyone they ever let go was ‘fired for cause’. We should investigate them.” I somehow doubt this happens, which makes me wonder if this practice is somewhat commonplace.
I only applied for unemployment once when a dot com I was with imploded, and I had no problem getting the money.
I have been fired twice for reasons I probably would have fired me for. I told the unemployment office the complete truth of the situations and got benefits both times, though there was some delay while they checked with the employer…maybe they assumed I was sugar coating?
Anyway, you can be sure that you won’t get any benefits if you don’t try. As long as you don’t lie there is no downside to applying.
Too bad about the timing. Being unemployed in the winter was much worse than summer…well that and the down economy. Make them fire you. Surprisingly, nobody ever asked about it when I was interviewing.
Hope things work out for you. Being unemployed sucks, but working in a toxic environment ain’t all that either.