Reason for discharge and unemployment

[Frange67]

What is the name of your state? IL.

I work for a company headquartered in CA and was terminated Monday, 2-25 via phone. The reason given during the call was "force reduction." The regional manager informed my fellow employees via email my territory was being eliminated and another employee will monitor my territory.

Yesterday I received a separation package from the company requiring me to sign a couple pages. One page has 6 boxes they can check for reasons for change in employment status. The company representative checked the box "Discharge." I would have expected the company to check the "Layoff" box considering it was force reduction.

My concern is the "discharge" status will affect my unemployment because the state asks for a reason for the termination. While not as important, this status may affect my success in a job search. Is my concern regarding my termination status relating to unemployment and job searching valid? Thank you for anything you can offer.

 

[cbg]

Technically, Layoff means there is a reasonable chance that you will be recalled. If no such chance exists, then in the strict sense of the word it is not a layoff and Discharge is correct.

Discharge does not suggest that there was any misconduct involved. You are getting upset over nothing.

 

[Beth3]

My concern is the "discharge" status will affect my unemployment because the state asks for a reason for the termination. No, it won't. Discharge simply means your employment was terminated - in this case, because of a reduction in force. It does not mean that you were fired for misconduct or poor job performance.

As cbg commented, you're concerned over nothing.