Background: I work for an independent pharmacy which I have been with since July 2019. First I was a pharmacy intern and then when I passed my boards I was hired on as a pharmacist in January 2022. The atmosphere is much less stressful than a traditional retail pharmacy and I have enjoyed my time there. When accepting my pharmacist role my owner informed me she would have a second store ready in October 2022 and I would be the pharmacy manager if I would like, and I accepted. My initial rate upon hire in January was $58/hr, compared to the $60/hr of my coworkers. My owner claimed this was because I was a new pharmacist and needed time to grow (fair). Fast forward to October when the second store opened and my pay has been increased to $60/hr along with my other coworkers, even though I have the title of manager.
When informed of the pay I asked to discuss pay increase with my owner. She told me that after 6 mo. to a year we could reevaluate and eventually I could make $65/hr as manager. Also, she was stressing that I should be working “towards a bonus” and not for a pay raise, which is where my initial doubts set in. Then at the end of the year all my coworkers (technicians, interns, and pharmacists) all received a bonus check. I would like to note that the previous end of year (December 2021) we all received a bonus check as well and mine was $2000 and I was still an intern. This year everyone seemed to have received a smaller bonus, mine being $1000, and at the end of the review with my owner she told me (as she did with others) not to discuss the bonus with other workers (illegal?). She claimed to have allocated more money towards the techs and interns this year because of their hard work, but after discussing with the techs and interns (myself), that did not seem to match what she said (more lies).
Around the end of January I guess my other coworkers had been discussing our bonuses and were rightfully upset which prompted my owner to send us a message in the company group chat saying she did not appreciate us discussing these bonuses. Following her text I replied that it is within their rights to discuss wages and sent in the Massachusetts's law (where I work) that prohibits employers from stopping employees from discussing wages. This made her very upset with me and prompted a phone call where she did not understand why, “I am working against her” and saying these things (maybe because I am also an employee and have the right to?). Sadly I apologized and said I would not talk about the bonus anymore. It should be said in our discussion I asked her why we got less this year and she said the pharmacy did not do as well without the extra sales of covid supplies and testing (which isn't entirely true because we still had good profits from it). Either way, I knew the pharmacy was making good money and thought we all deserved better bonuses if we are not going to receive raises.
Fast forward to today. Ironically it was one of my days off in the week. I did not have much to do today and my coworker said they needed help setting up a blister pack for a patient because she had never done one before, so I offered to come in. I go to the pharmacy around 2 pm and start helping (there is an application/service names Dispill which is what we use for our blister packages) and get the patients profile set up to do so. I had called my owner to help me as to make sure everything was entered correctly. The gentleman who was coming to pick up the blister pack got there around 2:15 (I have helped him in the past) and asked about it. He works for a group home with mentally handicapped patients (excuse me if this is not the PC terminology), and was excited to use the service with us as they have about 5 patients who could use it. So to be clear he was picking up for one of his patients. I let the gentleman know it was not ready yet and that it MAY take about 30 minutes (something I never should have said apparently). I also informed him that it is a $20 service fee which made him iffy, but I then offered to attempt billing it to Mass Health. He leaves, and I continue working on the blister packs. I get everything setup, including fixing our printer, and teach my other coworker (different than the one mentioned before who left at 2 pm) how to prepare the blister packs. Essentially all she had to do was print the labels, place the meds into their corresponding blister, seal them, and bill mass health for the service. Boom, good to go. It was time for me to leave and run errands I already had planned (day off) so I passed it off to her AND told my owner to please contact my coworker to help her finish.
About an hour later I get a phone call from my owner pissed off at me because the customer came back and was screaming at my coworker in the pharmacy because the blister pack was not ready yet. I tried to explain myself but my owner just kept calling me out saying, “A, when you promise a patient something will get done you must stay to make sure that thing is done! Now B is getting yelled at because of your mistake!” I tried explaining that I told the gentleman it MAY take about 30 minutes but that we would also have to bill Mass Health for the claim which would also take time. She ended the conversation with me saying she thinks it is not good for me to work for her anymore and gave me my 2 weeks notice. I said ok and hung up the phone. At first I was really heated right after, but after cooling off I am somewhat relieved.
There is a chance she calls me back at some point and apologizes and says she would like me to stay. In that case I would send her my resignation because working there is not good for my mental health. My question for you all is, if she does not rescind her statement then how do I ask for it in writing? Call her and say, “Hi X, I need a formal statement from you about my termination, please send to my email when you can,” ? I have never been fired before so I want to do this correctly. Also, does anyone know if I will then become eligible for unemployment if I am unable to get a new job in the time span? I already started updated my CV. Thank you for any advice in advance.
TL;DR: Boss has been doing some sketchy BS for some time now and I have had enough. Made a minor mistake today and she has given me my 2 week notice. She only gave it verbally over the phone so should I ask for a written statement? Also, will I become eligible for unemployment?