Resignations

Worker quit to care for parent? Know state law

10/28/2010

The news is filled with stories about unemployed workers who can’t find jobs. Yet despite the downturn, some employees find they still must quit their jobs to care for elderly parents. In Pennsylvania, the law makes that easier.

Can you pass the constructive discharge test? Beware lawsuits from employees who quit

10/26/2010

Some supervisors wrongly assume that employees who quit can’t sue because they weren’t fired. That’s not true. An employee who finds conditions so intolerable that he or she has no choice but to quit can sue and allege termination. Fortunately, courts expect employees to have relatively thick skins. Workplaces will never be perfect and courts don’t expect them to be.

Pay cut? Beware constructive discharge claim

10/07/2010

Can an employee you never fired sue you for a discriminatory termination? Oddly enough, yes. Under some circumstances, an employee can quit and claim she was “constructively discharged.” To do so, she has to show conditions at work were intolerable. And now a federal court has concluded that cutting someone’s pay can be an intolerable condition.

Worker quits in a huff and sues? Court: Employers need chance to fix problem

09/24/2010

Courts are starting to toss out lawsuits brought by employees who quit at the first sign of trouble without at least trying to work out a solution. Judges aren’t as willing as they were in the past to accept quitting as just another form of termination. Instead, they seem to be telling employees they need to give their employers a chance to fix problems before resorting to litigation.

If a resigning employee gives two weeks’ notice, can we tell him not to bother coming in anymore?

09/22/2010

Q. If an employee resigns and gives two weeks’ notice, can we tell him he isn’t needed for the two weeks and avoid paying him for that time?

Don’t write overly broad restrictions into noncompetes

09/08/2010

Noncompete covenants in Texas must be limited to a reasonable geographic area or they aren’t enforceable. Unfortunately for employers, that geographic area is usually fairly small.

Overwork not enough reason to quit, collect unemployment

08/25/2010

Employees these days are working harder and longer than ever. And that can be stressful. Some employees may believe they can escape the pressure by quitting because of stress and applying for unemployment compensation benefits. That usually won’t work.

Is an employee who resigned (instead of being fired) eligible for unemployment benefits?

08/12/2010

Q. We recently decided to conclude a long-time worker’s employment with our company. We gave the employee the option of resigning instead of being fired. She chose to resign and is now trying to collect unemployment benefits. Is she still eligible even though she resigned?

Just quitting isn’t ‘constructive discharge’

07/13/2010

Some employees have heard through the legal grapevine that if the going gets tough at work, they can just get going. They believe they can up and quit—and then turn around and sue, claiming that they had no choice but to leave because they were suffering retaliation for taking some protected action. This is an example of “constructive discharge.” But conditions have to be pretty onerous before the tactic works.

Fired right after two weeks’ notice: Must we pay?

07/02/2010

Q. A resigning employee gave us two weeks’ notice, but we decided to terminate the employee right away instead. Are we obligated to pay the person for those two weeks he gave notice for?