DEAR CARRIE: I gave my company an eight-week notice. I had planned to use that time to look for another job. I thought eight weeks would be enough time for everything to work out. I would find a job and then transition to a new company. But after I gave notice, my manager informed me that an eight-week heads-up wasn't necessary and that he would let me know at the end of the week if the company still needed my services. If he lets me go right away, can I collect unemployment? He said I wouldn't be able to collect because I had resigned. And he said he would fight it. Do I have a chance?
On Notice
DEAR ON NOTICE: He can huff all he wants. But if he dismisses you before your designated quit date, you may well be entitled to unemployment benefits to cover the weeks you expected to work.
Your situation is common, except for the length of your notice; a two-week notice is customary in business.
Employees usually give enough notice to wind down their affairs and to allow the company time to find a replacement. But some companies for security reasons will demand that resigning employees leave right away. And they will often cushion that hard landing with severance to cover the notification period. But when severance isn't extended, as in your case, you'll face a loss of income through no fault of your own. That's the hard fall unemployment benefits are intended to break.
The general rule for unemployment benefits is that if employees lose a job through no fault of their own, they are eligible for the benefits, provided they meet other criteria. That obviously, excludes quitting or being fired for misconduct.
So when an employee gives notice, "she is voluntarily quitting and therefore would not normally be eligible for unemployment insurance benefits," said employment attorney Jeffrey Schlossberg with Ruskin Moscou Faltischek in Uniondale.
But here's the rub for your company. "If the employer chooses to let the employee go before the end of the notice period," Schlossberg said, "then the employer is considered to have terminated the employee for reasons other than misconduct, and the employee likely would be eligible for benefits."
You attempted to do the right thing by giving such an extraordinarily long notice, but you may have wound up spooking your employer. That's because employers fear that extended-stay short-timers in particular will copy files, sabotage computers, amass data to take to a competitor or have a negative impact on remaining colleagues.
"Employers, fearing that type of conduct, are likely to terminate the employee on the spot," Schlossberg said. "The longer the notice period, the more likely the employer is to fire the employee immediately."
Your boss also may have feared that you were planning to turn your work area into Outplacement Central in your search for a new job. That's a reasonable fear, since you volunteered that you didn't have another job yet.
On the other hand, your boss could be paranoid or just plain spiteful and taking your resignation personally and looking for ways to get back at you.
Whatever the situation, knowing your rights hopefully will make you feel better. And now knowing the pitfalls of an eight-week notice, I doubt you'll ever offer one again.
For more information, contact New York State's unemployment telephone claims center at 888-209-8124.
Carrie Mason-Draffen welcomes workplace questions, though she cannot respond to every query. Some may be edited for length and clarity. Contact her with your questions at carrie .draffen@newsday.com. Send a letter to Dear Help Wanted, Business Desk, Newsday, 235 Pinelawn Rd., Melville, NY 11747-4250. Your name and number won’t be published.
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