If you are in a hostile work environment, and it’s been widely known and documented with the company that the environment is indeed hostile, and you quit, can you get unemployment?
I have a friend that works in an office (a 600 employee corporation) who tells incredible stories of harassment (not sexual), intimidation, and many immoral if not illegal acts by coworkers. She desperately wants out, but being a single mom, is afraid to quit until she gets another job first. The atmosphere at her work is such that she would pay hell if she took an hour or two off here and there to interview, though, even if she said she was going to a doctor’s appointment or something.
Her attitude and morale are seriously taking a beating, and she’s becoming more and more depressed by the day. I’d like to be able to tell her that according to the law, you have a right to “constructive discharge” if you believe your working conditiions have become intolerable, but my research online on this subject seems vague to me.
Does anyone know anything about this?
In general, if you quit, you do not qualify for unemployment benefits. You have to have quit for good reason. Accusing your former employer of maintaining a hostile work environment might not work unless they have EEOC complaints on them. She could claim that the job was not flexible enough to allow her occasional time off to care for her child (i.e., doctor appointments, etc.). It would seem to depend on what mood her case worker is in that day according to # 1 here:
Did you lose your last job through no fault of your own?
To qualify for unemployment insurance, you must have left your job for one of these reasons:
- You had to quit your job with a good reason (a good reason might be an illness or other personal issue). Your caseworker will determine if you had a “good reason.”
- You were laid off
- You were fired, but not because of any major problem like stealing, getting in a fight, using drugs on the job, etc. (http://www.thebeehive.org/jobs/Unemployment-benefits-qualify.asp)
Tell her to begin keeping a diary of incidents. Request reasonable things that she’s fairly sure will be denied. Try looking up your state’s “good cause” exceptions to receiving benefits if you quit your job. That way, she can tailor her case.
Also, many businesses will schedule interviews before or after normal business hours to accommodate those who normally work those hours. Quickie lunch hour interviews are also a possibility.
Documenting things seems like the way to go to me. I’ll let her know that. It’s frustrating for me to hear this from her all the time, yet she’s not taking any steps to end it or get away from it. I think I’m just going to tell her “either do something about it or shut up about it!” Maybe she’s just so demoralized and depressed at this point that she’s frozen, unmotivated?
Thanks, Cillasi
Speaking generically, state laws vary, expect to have to appeal an initial denial.
It is actually best to get a lawyer familiar with unemployment comp to see if the harassment is enough.
It’s really hard to get unemployment when you quit. NOT impossible but hard. Many states such as ILLINOIS allow an employer two years to file a dispute. SO you can collect your unemployment get it then find a year later after you threw out your documentation that you owe the state the money back.
Becareful with doctors also as states require that you be available to work. So unless your hours change radically this is not going to work. (Going from 9am-5pm to 11pm - 7am IS a good example but relatively few others will work.)
Also most employers hire people to fight the claim. They don’t need to win so much as to keep you tied up long enough where it becomes deadly for you. Can YOU WAIT 2 or 3 months with your claim tied up even IF you win.
Having worked in H/R, the best solution is to contact a lawyer and if you got a case, simply have him write a letter to your H/R or have him come with you to addrss the H/R Head and the General Manager, state your position and how you are documenting everything from then on. 9 out of 10 times the harassments stops. This is simply cause the company knows even if you’re right YOU are likely to quit and THEY won’t have to deal with you. So they will lay off enough to give you time to find another job.