I work at a company where recently several workers have separated from the company. Of course much of what we hear about why the employee separated is just rumor. We know that the company is never going to always tell what REALLY happened (Unless the worker engaged in behavior that was blatantly and obviously bad). Recently a typist was supposedly fired because she refused to do something asked of her(a good worker but supposedly had a bad attitude). Then the company controller (may not have been at will but may have had an employment contract, not sure) left supposedly on good terms. Just after that an employee who worked under her left. Rumor had it that she was given too much work and since the controller(who was her boss) left, she didn't want to continue working there.
I know that employment in my state(New York) is considered "At will" which means that an employee can be terminated at any time, with or without cause, and that employment for an x number of years does not guarantee future employment. If an employee in NY is terminated and the employee brings the employer to court, the court in NY will uphold the at will doctrine.
Now one thing i know is that if an employee takes advantage of the at will provision and fires an employee, the employee is entitled to unemployment insurance, provided that the employee did not engage in misconduct. I know that if an employee is fired due to misconduct, the employee is not entitled to unemployment insurance.
Today i was having a conversation with several workers and many seem to think that the at will provision means that the employee is NOT entitled to unemployment if they are fired. But I told them this is not true, that only if the worker engaged in misconduct they cannot get unemployment.
One of them told me that in the past several employees were fired for no apparent reason and that the boss forced them to sign something that either waived their right to unemployment or said something that wasn't true, such as their work performance was poor. In other words, if the boss decided it was costing him too much to retain the employee and he wanted to fire the employee, he could fire the employee, then have the worker sign a statement waiving their right to unemployment. In other words, nobody who gets fired at out place gets unemployment.
I know this is all word of mouth and hearsay and none of these workers know the facts or the laws. But it still concerns me. I mean, if the company folded or made major cuts and laid people off, wouldn't they be entitled to unemployment, assuming they didn't engage in misconduct?
What kind of things can an employer have an employee sign at termination? Can an employer tell the worker that if they file for unemployment that the employer will turn around and give them a bad reference??
How does this work? Any ideas?
I know that employment in my state(New York) is considered "At will" which means that an employee can be terminated at any time, with or without cause, and that employment for an x number of years does not guarantee future employment. If an employee in NY is terminated and the employee brings the employer to court, the court in NY will uphold the at will doctrine.
Now one thing i know is that if an employee takes advantage of the at will provision and fires an employee, the employee is entitled to unemployment insurance, provided that the employee did not engage in misconduct. I know that if an employee is fired due to misconduct, the employee is not entitled to unemployment insurance.
Today i was having a conversation with several workers and many seem to think that the at will provision means that the employee is NOT entitled to unemployment if they are fired. But I told them this is not true, that only if the worker engaged in misconduct they cannot get unemployment.
One of them told me that in the past several employees were fired for no apparent reason and that the boss forced them to sign something that either waived their right to unemployment or said something that wasn't true, such as their work performance was poor. In other words, if the boss decided it was costing him too much to retain the employee and he wanted to fire the employee, he could fire the employee, then have the worker sign a statement waiving their right to unemployment. In other words, nobody who gets fired at out place gets unemployment.
I know this is all word of mouth and hearsay and none of these workers know the facts or the laws. But it still concerns me. I mean, if the company folded or made major cuts and laid people off, wouldn't they be entitled to unemployment, assuming they didn't engage in misconduct?
What kind of things can an employer have an employee sign at termination? Can an employer tell the worker that if they file for unemployment that the employer will turn around and give them a bad reference??
How does this work? Any ideas?