What is considered good cause for quiting in California?

Hello.

I recently quit my job, and I’m curious if I’d have a strong case for unemployment benefits.

I worked for a national shipping and copy center, but I feel that I may have a good case because I was expected to perform jobs that were not part of my job title or formal training. I was hired on in 2006 as a “retail associate,” which basically entailed the duties of tendering transactions and assisting customers on the sales floor. In 2009, I transferred to a new center in an adjacent town closer to home, but I soon had to start doing more than was previously asked of me. I started to run the production for the morning and early afternoon, which wasn’t entirely easy for me. I had received no formal training on running production, but this was still expected of my position.

Apparently, in the tome-like contract that I signed upon being hired, there is an addendum in the text that states, more or less, that I am “expected to do whatever the center manager says to do.” It is what it is, but still, do I even have a leg to stand on.

Furthermore, I’m curious to see if my two-week notice letter will hurt me in my hearing. In my letter, I stated that I was leaving to focus on future academics, which is partly true, but I mainly didn’t want to be overly malicious and point out how our center was grossly understaffed and I was expected to fill roles which were not in my then-job-title.

If it helps (or hurts?) anything, two of my other employees also put in their two-weeks notice the same week that I did because of similar complaints.

Also, can I summon those same employees who quit as my witnesses for my hearing, if need be?

Any help would be supremely appreciated. Thank you.

Hi,

You asked if you have a strong case.

No, I wouldn’t consider it a strong case.

The rule that you are expected to do whatever told to do .. is easy to argue .. You were required to do whatever you were asked to do within the confines of what you were hired to do or the job description and the training you are either provided or “asked for” if given additional duties.

Someone recently told me they were asked by their employer to calibrate computerized “robotic manufacturing equipment” He refused because he had no training, but said that if he was sent for training to work on robotic equipment he would comply. This is reasonable .. regardless of what the employer thinks. There is at least a valid argument that he was fearful of being accountable for destroying some very expensive equipment if he were to quit when the employer insisted.

You on the other hand have been doing these added duties since somewhere back in 2009 and it is now May of 2010.

The resignation letter hurts you because you stated you were quitting to pursue some type of academics .. quitting to attend school is disqualifying.

I think that it is easy to damage your own credibility if you first have to explain why your resignation letter isn’t completely truthful.

I’ve never figured out why people write the resignation letters they do .. unless it’s because they are hedging their bet and don’t want to burn bridges.

Let’s not forget you quit .. so even though you have presented your reasoning for quitting .. not once did you mention any of the efforts you made to correct and preserve the employment.

This is where strength lies .. sometimes in spite of a poorly conceived resignation letter.

Witnesses? I’m all about witnesses to support reality.

What does CA have to say on the subject?

VQ40 and VQ440

Recently as a general manager I was placed on an hourly wage, a district supervisor neglects this and continues text while I am not at work, this district manager has even sent text at 3am advising that she does not want to be disturb before a certain hour, often the text sent say phrases like “You better”
“I want it now people”
Often we or I reply off the clock
This district manager also sends messages with threats of you will work an extra day with short shifts to prevent overtime.
I often just want to quit but I have been with this company for 16 years and only with this supervisor for less than a year.

Would this behavior be ample cause to quit?

I do not think the behavior of the DM alone would be in and of itself considered good cause.

However, I do think if as an employee with the title of GM, who had been moved from being an exempt salaried employee, to a non-exempt hourly employee, I would check California’s labor laws concerning being misclassified as a non-exempt employee, before I took the issues with this DM to HR.

And of course, any documentation I created, would be intended to prove good cause if HR ignores, or doesn’t take action to resolve the inappropriate contact of a DM during all hours of the day, or night while I was off the clock, especially if that DM demands you respond, or verify you received her directives, while off the clock.

Disclaimer; this is just my personal, first non-attorney reaction though, to your question about good cause for quitting and then getting unemployment .. after the fact of you quitting.

My job was bought out from a out of state company,the new company makes u ask to use the restroom tells you NO if you ask sometimes telling u there is only certain times your allowed to go to the bathroom at all! There is garbage bags piled up every in office i have pictures of Everything!

Hi Jen

I don’t know if you have good cause, or if the pictures of garbage bags around the office would ever be relevant, with regard to you having good cause to quit.

But I think I know enough about UI to say, if I were thinking about quitting over the other reason you stated, that the new employer is making employees ask permission to use the bathroom and when someone does ask, says there are only certain times an employee is allowed to use the bathroom .. is something I would first explore. I just want to know if California labor laws and/or regulations make this specific practice, an unwise and potentially illegal thing for any employer, to do.

In other words .. before I would start making an issue about the bathroom thing with the employer it, I just want to know if it is a potential issue for the state as well, and therefore, a complaint I need to be documenting about, when I make it an issue with my employer .. in my efforts as an employee, to preserve my job.

Just so I might be able to meet the burden of proving good cause to quit in California, should I feel I need to quit and collect unemployment benefits in the state of CA.

The idea of proving what may be otherwise good cause to collect benefits, means many employees would be wise to raise the bar .. they are willing to prove fault to .. which is of course best to do, while a person still has a job to preserve .. because in California, as well as many other states, it those efforts at preservation of the employment relationship, that ultimately could help us prove it was the employer not genuinely desirous of preserving the employment relationship.

There are various ways our actions, as well as our employer’s reactions to our nerve to complain, can become the subject of documentation that helps to corroborate for fact sake.

Whether created by employees .. or only employers who usually document leading up to a termination, to which most employees don’t see the benefit of counter documentation .. paper trails is what adds weight to testimony .. should the employee, or the employer need to appeal an initial claim finding.

Chris