Another vote for get the hell out. Tell your friend to start looking for other jobs immediately if he’s in a tough financial spot, and to leave that job as soon as humanly possible. As some have stated, it sounds like his company’s creating a paper trail. It’s all about protocol.
Also, if he does choose to resign, tell him to carefully read anything they give him to sign. If they ask him to sign a piece of paper indicating that he’s being terminated for poor performance or for failing to improve, he may want to add to it “signed under duress” or just somehow indicate that he feels he is being unfairly terminated - if he does feel that way, anyway. And tell him to make sure he gets a copy.
My experience with unemployment pay is that IT’S the joke–very much less than one has made while working. Regular salary for 3 1/2 weeks might be as much money as unemployment stipend for 3 months. Unless he’s sure he will get unemployment pay **AND[b/] it’s enough to be worthwhile **AND[b/] it’s rather unlikely he can get a replacement job within a few months, I doubt it’s a good strategy for him to let them fire him.
Sorry to say it, but from what I’ve read so far it sounds like he has the problem here. Even if he passes muster in the improvement plan, it sounds like he still has a negative attitude about his boss and his field of work. Whether or not the boss is an ass, if your friend dislikes working there, then his prospects for continued employment at this company are dim. I think the wisest thing would be to accept the offer and move on to something that suits him better.
It’s always best to think of the future fallout and his resume. As someone who hires and fires, I can tell you that one of the prime questions I ask is “Why did you leave your last job?” Another prime question that is asked of previous employers is “Would you rehire (this person)”, or “Is (this person) elegible for rehire?”. If you are fired, the answer will probably be “no”. If you terminate under any other condition (such as voluntarily while under probation), the previous employer is required by law to answer “yes”. It’s much easier in an interview for your friend to say he decided to move on, rather than to give some long drawn out explanation to a prospective employer that may send the message “trouble-maker”.
Short answer: take the money, swallow his pride, and salvage whatever future employment options there are.
In the state of Florida if you “resign” you are NOT eligible for unemployment. The company of course doesn’t want to pay unemployment so they are going to try and get him to resign.
However if you are “fired” you are eligible for unemployment as long as you didn’t steal from the company.
