Am I eligible for unemployment benefits?

[ryane320]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois
I was just recently terminated due to "non-performance of job duties". However the way my boss went about terminating me on my last day really has me asking a lot of questions. I have already applied for unemployment benefits and of course I have a call-in interview coming up to determine my elegibility for benefits. I will be more than happy to explain my cause for uncertainty if someone is willing to listen and help me out?
THANKS!

 

[pattytx]

If you were fired for failure to perform up to the boss' standards, that will generally not disqualify you from benefits.

Are there extenuating circumstances?

 

[commentator]

They will not really let you spin them a long tale. They will be asking certain specific questions, and these are the ones they want answered. They will ask, generally, how long you have worked at this particular job. They will ask what your job duties were. They will ask if you have received adequate training in these duties. They will ask if there was a specific performance standard that was to be met to measure the performance of these job duties (for example a sales quota or production rate.) They will ask if you have received any prior warnings or write ups regarding your job performance. They will ask what was said to you on the day you were terminated regarding your job performance. They will ask if you did your job to the best of your ability.

The answers to these questions will help determine if your claim is approved or not. Job performance is somewhat tricky to prove as misconduct, which is what would cause denial of your benefits.

If you had been doing a poor job, in spite of repeated training, counseling and discipline, if you had been warned, if you had, in the past, done the job adequately and then now have slacked off, say due to problems at home, or being frustrated or something, this could be considered misconduct lack of performance and could keep you from drawing benefits. If they have video of you asleep at your desk, or computer records that show you spent most of your time on Facebook, this could be misconduct poor performance.

Just answer their questions, don't make personal excuses ( "I was all stressed because I'd just broken my engagement") and hope for the best. Always make your weekly certifications, even though your claim has not yet been approved. If you are denied, you will have the opportunity to appeal the decision, and you will need to keep filing for weeks that pass while you are doing that. If you are approved, your employer may appeal the decision as well, so you'll just have to see how it turns out.

 

[ecmst12]

Ever heard of a paragraph? No one is going to read that wall of text.

 

[ryane320]

(I apologize, I did not realize we were in English class)

Well I guess my question stems from whether or not my termination was actually legite or not. I will give you the story so you can take it from there...

Friday, 5pm, I am scheduled to work until 5:30pm. I am called into a meeting with my office manager and the company presidents' boyfriend (he doesnt work or is he "supposed" to have anything to do with the company but has a lot to do with how things are run, I can explain more if I have to). The three of us sit down in a closed door office. The boyfriend proceeds to ask me questions in regards to my performance at my job, more precisely the past 4 months since a "change" in job duties had occurred.

About 4 months ago I was an administrative assistant/assistant manager at a Travel Office, where I did business and personal tasks for the company president as well as the boyfriend and also helped the office manager with any tasks/duties required as well as other office duties. Then about the beginning of July 2009 I was transferred from administrative assitant/assistant manager to Travel Agent/assistant manager, where I was relieved of all my administrative duties and was now required to perform the same duties as the other travel agents in the office but also keep my assistant manager role which would include answering complaint calls, working new member accounts, checking over agent work, helping with problems and anything else required by my office manager at the time. This would not be the first time I would have my hand in the travel agent side of the job, approximately a year to a year and a half prior I was a regular travel agent, when our workloads were half the size of what they are today or at the time of my termination.

When I was questioned by the boyfriend about my performance I didnt know how to answer the question at first because I was in that shock and aww stage as this was all a surprise to me, as there hadnt been any previous talks or write-ups (none to date by the way) except for a talk that took place back in August. But since that talk I was under the impression that I was keeping up well with the work I had been given. It wasnt one hundred percent but I thought I was at least keeping up with the rest. I agreed with him in saying that my work was not what it used to be however stress was a factor. He then proceeded to tell me that due to my "non-performance of duties" and lack of customer service I was going to cost him over $500,000 in business the following year due to a distributor not wanting to resign a contract with him because of me. I apologized to him and he continued to tell me that he would divorce his wife for this much money. I wasnt able to say much and actually think I cried more than anything.

He then went on to tell me that the reason my boss/company president was not present was because she had washed her hands of me already, she had given up and he showed me a termination paper with her signature and date with a space below for my signature and date. I reached for the paper to read what was being waived in front of my face and he then tells me "dont worry about reading it, what is done is done..." so I left the paper on the desk in front of me. He then asks me if I had ever been treated for depression? I didnt know really what to say nor did I really feel comfortable talking about my personal issues with this man, however I told him no and that I had always thought of myself as being a stronger person than that. He then went on with his story about how he has been on meds for depression for eighteen years and how it has turned his life around. He then said that he knew I had better work in me than what I was producing and thought that if I were to see a psychiatrist and get put on some meds that it would probably solve a lot of problems. He then took the termination papers and crossed out my boss/company presidents name and the word termination and re-wrote PROBATION on top with his signature next to it. He then told me to take the rest of the day and the next week off of work as my probation. I would be able to return to work the following week as long as I see a psychiatrist (at his cost), and not a psychologist he said because a psychologist cannot prescribe any medication and then once I had seen the psychiatrist I was to call him personally and let him know what kind of medication they ended up putting me on. He then took it upon himself to write "Trazadone 150mg" on the back of my termination papers as this is the miracle drug that has turned his life upside down.

So still shook up from everything that had just happened I went to my desk gathered my belongings and turned off my computer. I clocked out and went home for the rest of the day, which was probably about 15 min short of a full day.

After talking about what happened to a few people on my way home I grew very upset as I felt I was being told I needed to be medicated to perform my job when I knew it was just a matter of my company overselling their current capabilities but they were not wanting to admit to the real problem. So later that night I decided to sign the termination papers after thinking that whatever the boyfriend had signed/wrote and crossed out on the papers was irrelevant as he holds no value at that company. If my boss/company president was finished with me to the point where she could not even attend my termination meeting then why would she want me back in the office the following week, she is the one that has to work with me, not him.

I was employed by this company for almost 4 and a half years and had been a manager for more than 50 percent of that time. This was my first "real job" as I am only 26 and this was the first job I landed after finishing college and receiving my certificate for office specializing. I wasnt sure if I was doing the right thing or not so I thought about everything and finally emailed my office manager on Wednesday morning the following week and let her know that I signed off on the termination papers and would be willing to email or send a copy to them for their files. I explained that I did not agree with my company presidents decision for the termination but I was going to take it as a sign because I believe everything happens for a reason. Was I really terminated or do you think I am going to have a hard time fighting for benefits?
(Sorry so much, a lot to the whole story)

 

[cbg]

It's not a question of English class, it's a question of not wanting to have to visit the eye doctor after attempting to read your post. If you want free advice from volunteers, it is up to you to make your question readable. White space and paragraphs make it much easier to read. A single block of solid text is next to impossible to read.

Even WITH paragraphs that's more than I want to read, but I will tell you that unless you have a legally binding contract or CBA that expressly says otherwise, any termination is "legit" as long as there is no law that specifically prohibits the employer from terming you for the reason he did.

 

[ecmst12]

Termination was legal. "Boyfriend" is a moron, but did nothing illegal. You should qualify for unemployment since I see no evidence of willful misconduct. Crying when reprimanded because of poor performance will usually be seen as extremely unprofessional and not usually the best way to react.

Being treated for depression does not of course mean that one is "less strong" then anyone else. IF you are depressed, you should seek treatment, not because of what the moron told you, just because it's the best thing for your own well being. Other then that, don't take anything he said to heart.

File for unemployment and start looking for a new job.

And it's not about being in english class. It's about making your posts easy for people to read. Which, since you're asking for volunteers to help you, will greatly improve your chances of getting help.

 

[ryane320]

Can my ex-employer however come back and say that they never terminated me but put me on probation? Even though she signed the paperwork deemed as termination papers and her boyfriend "changed" them to probation papers? I am not so much worried as to whether or not the termination was legal but whether or not she can come back and say I quit opposed to being terminated.

 

[commentator]

She can come back and say anything, that she terminated you, that you quit, that you were having sex with her boyfriend, anything. That does not matter. They will believe you just as much as they believe her. They will talk to both parties before making a decision.

All you have to do is to condense all of this stuff you've written here into answers to the basic questions I told you above that they are going to ask you. Believe me, they do not want to hear about all this stuff about depression and your boss' boyfriend recommending that you be on medication.

They will ask, "What happened on the day you were terminated? What was said by the company representative when you were terminated?" Try very hard to give them the abreviated version. If we hate to read long detailed posts, you should imagine how bad someone in the unemployment office would hate to read this much writing with this much extraneous detail. They will probably not give you enough time in your phone interview to go through very much of this. So get in the important stuff, hit the high points.

Say you were terminated for poor performance when you were doing the job to the best of your ability. You had had no prior warnings, no write ups, no indication that you were not doing a good job. You were told to sign a termination paper. You understood that this was a termination. You did not voluntarily quit your job. You did what you could to keep your job.