I found this post sitting in my draft box, and figured wow, what an appropriate time to post considering I just left my job.
Well, like the title of this post says, I feel like I’m “entitled” to unemployment. I feel like I should be able to benefit from this if I were to quit, after all my tax money went into it didn’t it? But, at the same time, I see a problem with the idea that I should get unemployment benefits for leaving under my own choice.
I’m wrong. I should not feel entitled to this benefit. I know this. All I’m doing it bringing up the idea that unemployment benefits should be given to all who leave their jobs. Consider, being fired gets you unemployment. Unless I’m wrong on this…maybe you don’t get unemployment for being fired. But if you do, how fair is that? I mean, someone who gets fired because they are doing a crappy job can get unemployment, but one that leaves on his/her own choice can’t?
Seems odd…what do you think?
EasyChange
January 5, 2007 at 9:47 am
This is an interesting topic. As I understand it, losing your job, when it is not voluntary (whether fired or laid-off), is considered grounds for unemployment.
Ethically, however, if someone has either quit or has just “checked out” and insists upon doing the minimum, then they probably shouldn’t be collecting. I understand why though; people can be fired for reasons other than being bad workers.
This unemployment net helps protect them. But not all people who collect try to get off it quickly and not all people who collect should be collecting, at least from an ethical standpoint.
But the bottom line here is that if people didn’t abuse the system, all of the companies who are paying for this could afford to give out more stock-dividends and higher salaries. So by some people abusing the system, in the end we are all paying for it.
Maria
January 5, 2007 at 10:19 am
Many states do not pay unemployment if you are fired. My dad worked for the Unemployment office in Utah and involuntary termination was investigated heavily before any claims were paid. Mostly they paid for voluntary layoffs such as downsizing, etc…,
If you have some sort of conflict with your employer and you left, you may be able to collect. It’s kind of backward in my mind.
They will definately have an investigation but the worst they can say is no right?
Kate
January 5, 2007 at 6:04 pm
Apparently, the thinking is that if you quit voluntarily, you could have had another job lined up. Being fired or laid off doesn’t give the worker that flexibility and the unemployment is supposed to help until another job is found.
Welcome back!
MsMiniducky
January 6, 2007 at 8:44 am
We had an employee on the verge of being fired and he quit so our boss was told not to write him any recommendation and that if the employee applied for unemployment, the company could block it.
Matt
January 8, 2007 at 2:39 pm
I don’t think you qualify for unemployement if you get fired (in Canada – but I could be wrong) I think the main purpose of unemployment insurennce is to safeguard your looseing your job through a layoff or company going broke. If you quit it was your choice and if you get fired then you’re inept; but if you loose your job through no fault or choice of your own is when you should get unemployment – in my opinion
MoneyFwd
January 11, 2007 at 11:10 am
My sister-in-law quit her job because her boss was miserable and oppressive, and they were about to cut her pay. She was given unemployment. Basically the company could have blocked it, but the unemployment person told her that the chances are they wouldn’t bother.
I think the idea generally is that you receive unemployment as long as you continue to look for a job (or for a selected amount of time), and so if you have a job and decide to leave, you could have kept it and not been on unemployment, so therefore you shouldn’t receive unemployment.
tim
February 15, 2007 at 5:42 am
i see nothing wrong with feeling like you are entitled to unemployment, especially if you have been an employed person. there are plenty of people getting unemployment who are not entitled to it. you pay your taxes, and unemployment is there to fill in the gap. i am definitely entitled to unemployment since i’ve been working since a teen. and i will have no qualms about filing for unemployment either.
every state has its rules on unemployment. there are some serious laxness in getting it. rules seem to hit hardest on people who are “entitled” versus people who are not. with that said, just file and let the unemployment office deny or approve you.
you can quit the job, based off of you’ve hit ceiling in your employment (among other things), and still gain unemployment. i have several friends who have done so. again, it will depend on the State and the unemployment office.
I will say that offices in poorer neighborhoods are much more accomodating as well as much quicker with better customer service than ones in affluent neighborhoods. the same thing with social security offices.
Teri Pittman
February 15, 2007 at 2:48 pm
I got unemployment in Washington state once for being fired. I’d never been fired in my life. I was working for another company and the owner of this company called me up and asked me to apply for the job. Supposedly it was as a catalog manager and they understood that I did not have any experience in that field. So I left my job and went to work for them. Did two different catalogs, on time, and had to learn two different software packages to do them. At the end of my 90 days, she fired me, stating that I required too much “hand holding”. I found out from the other employees as I was leaving that she often does things like this. So I didn’t feel bad about applying for unemployment. I did get it but wasn’t out of work too long before I was able to be rehired at the place I’d worked previously.
Tai
February 15, 2007 at 10:59 pm
“feeling like i’m entitled to unemployment” hmmm..sometimes you do feel like u’re entitled to it..my previous job sucked…a lot of micromanagement type stuff..it felt like kindergarten..so when i left it felt as if I was entitled to unemployment because of the circumstances–the “suckiness” if i may..Plus, the unemployment law in my state states that if your supervisor/manager makes work strenuous on your life (other than routine tasks) and you are in a way, almost forced to quit because you can’t stand them, you are entitled to unemployment. You have to prove that the workplace was an unhealthy environment. So I made the decision to leave my previous employer to finish up my BA in finance. Where did you work? I’m sure it didn’t suck as bad as my job. Did you work in Finance? All the classes I’m taking right now seem so tedious, is the actual finance job tedious? Or is it just the school work?