My employer advised me to quit or I would be fired for health issues. Now my employer is appealing my benefits after telling me numerous times they would approve it.

(Colorado Unemployment Benefits)

I was having attendance issues due to my declining health. My employer adviced me that I was going to be fired. I expressed my health issues, physical pain as well as severe anxiety and panic attacks, and supplied them with doctors notes, I explained that I had been to my doctor was getting things under control and my performance was significantly improving. My boss gave me a termination letter saying that they would not be willing to work with me. When I went to the HR dept to be given my termination paperwork a women in this dept adviced me that I would be able to appeal my termination to a board but if I “walked away quietly” and did not appeal to the board that they souls approve for me to receive unemployment benefits. She then told me that it would make things appear better not only for me to receive unenployment benefits but as well to any future employers if I just submitted my resignation. I obviously was very stupid to believe this women because I did as she said and now they are appealing my unemployment benefits stating that I simply “quit”. Please help, any information would be greatly appreciated. I live in the state if Colorado.

Hi,

First, the appeal may be the result of your employer having a cost control company handling their UI stuff. Colorado is sort of a hotspot for UI cost control companies.

Many a time, I spoke with HR directors that told me to withdraw an appeal because there was a written agreement to not protest UI benefits.

I’ll keep my fingers crossed this happens in your case .. but I refuse to hold my breath:)

Quitting in lieu of termination may be better for finding future employment, but resignation letters that aren’t framed to explicitly state the reason you are being forced to resign aren’t what I’d call helpful .. in matters of unemployment.

However, when someone quits for health reasons in Colorado specifically, and the employee can still work .. it is very difficult for an employer to win the appeal .. but that’s not enough to stop them from trying.

Generally, getting someone with a health condition to quit instead of firing them is just a strategy used in the hopes that the burden will be shifted to the employee and that the initial determination will go against you.

However, when a resignation letter given in lieu of termination details the events that forced you into resigning .. it becomes a piece of documentation that an employer would find useless at an unemployment hearing.

All one would need to do is add any and all other documentation such as doctor notes and maybe some emails between you and the employer that verifies the employer was made aware of the health issues affecting you .. and some explicit testimony about the conversation asking for the resignation.

From the small amount of details you gave me .. I think you should be able to win the appeal hearing .. if the employer follows through with it .. instead of withdrawing the appeal .. which is what would make sense to me merely because I’m not a fan of efforts in futility.

Colorado has an online web resource and in case you haven’t .. you should spend a little time looking over the reasoning regarding health and unemployment benefits.

After the statute .. there’s a list of decisions which I think are the best way to get a handle on how the law should be interpreted for your case facts.

It’s the details of each case that vary, but the laws themselves are basically, static and applied to all types of varying case facts.

Decisions help because they interpret individual cases relevant to the law ..

Let me know if you have any questions that come up after you’ve read the decisions.

Chris

Comments for My employer advised me to quit or I would be fired for health issues. Now my employer is appealing my benefits after telling me numerous times they would approve it.

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May 26, 2012
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by: Shea Ramie

Thank you very much for all of you advice! I spoke with the women who advised me to submit my resignation in the first place. She told me, whether true or not we’ll see, that my employer will not be fighting me on my unemployment, however she said that she had to state the facts that I did submit a resignation letter, in the forms that she had to
submit to the state. She said they will not fight or ever appear at a hearing if taken that far but she wanted to let me know that she did have to state the fact that I did submit a resignation letter and just based on that alone that I will be denied by the state regardless of anything else done on either of our parts. Do you foresee this to be the case as well? Will I be denied everything? I told the state that I was being laid off, and that I did not want to quit but was told to do so by the HR dept. I was contacted by the unemployment office and they asked me if I quit because that’s what they were told and I just simply replied no that I turned in a resignation letter, because they told me to but I did not quit, that I was laid off. My status is not in any appeal process as if yet its just being looked into as to why I’m saying I was laid off and why they’re saying I quit. I haven’t brought up any further details about my health issues and I’m not sure at this point if I should just yet?
Thank you very much for your opinion with this it is greatly appreciated!

Hi,

Since this is the employer’s appeal .. I did assume you were initially allowed benefits.

The one thing that does concern me is that the employer told you there was a grievance procedure available for you to pursue to retain your job.

Regardless of what you or the employer might tell the state .. that alone, if the state knows .. could change the outcome .. because it was your last and final possibility to preserve the job.

But like I try to explain .. the devil is always in the details and this forum stuff is not the best way to get details .. I’m actually concerned because you submitted this with your full name and I don’t have the ability to get rid of than on comments .. unless I just delete it.

I think it would be better if you emailed me and included your phone number so I can call you after the holiday.

Then you should remind me that I still need to delete this comment with your name.

Chris