Some employers become frustrated with the unemployment system and believe that it is easier to prevent a claimant from collecting benefits if they can force the employee to quit rather than having to fire them.

Your boss or supervisor will typically try to accomplish this by making the job less desirable, by cutting your hours, moving you to another location farther away, giving you unpleasant tasks or other changes, like taking away insurance benefits.

These shortcuts or quick and dirty solutions all fall under the definition of "changing the initial terms of hire". Your motivation to quit is everything once you apply for unemployment benefits, so it is important to get any changes in writing from your supervisor and also to at least ask that a change not be made prior to resigning.

It is important to stay with the "chain of command" and not try and go straight to the top with your concerns. Talk to your supervisor, then his or her supervisor, and so on. Also try to talk to someone in human resources (HR) about what is bothering you before giving your notice.

You must also make sure that a change to your job that you don't like is permanent or at least long-term prior to quitting. For example, if you are being transferred to a new location another 25 miles away for a month and are being paid a mileage differential, it would probably not be good cause to quit. On the other hand, if you agree to a change and stay with the new situation for over three (3) months, it might be held that you have agreed or acquiesced to the new terms of employment and so now are stuck with them.

Best regards, Jason H. Clark, Esq.

January 24, 2014