Q: Can I get unemployment if I quit because my manager forced me to change my hours?
My store manager told me the only way to keep my position as full-time Sales is to open my hours or I have to step down to part-time. I had no choice, so I told them I would open my hours. Now I have been working different shifts. It is stressing me out and causing migraines because I am not used to the hours. They keep changing me from night shifts and back to morning shifts. The manager piled so much work on me, keeps changing where I work in the store, and I can’t keep up. Sometimes there is only 1 person on the floor of a 98,000 sq.ft building. The place is toxic. Can I get unemployment if I quit?
A: It depends.
In order to receive unemployment benefits, you have to be able to prove that the reason you quit was for good cause connected to the work. In a case like this, you’ll have to show that the working conditions changed to such a degree that they were either a threat to your health, safety or morals, or that the change in the shifts was a material change in the hiring agreement.
But before deciding your claim, OESC would ask many of these questions:
- How long were you working with your previous availability?
- What was the reason you had limited your availability to those hours?
- Why did the manager make the request for you to open up your schedule?
- Is that change permanent or temporary?
- How long has it been since the change was made?
- Have you talked to anyone about your concerns? What was the result of those conversations?
Ultimately, OESC would want you to show that you did everything you could to resolve the situation and that quitting was your last resort.
If you want to discuss your particular situation, let’s talk about it!
