After reading the post about folks who are crying before and after their jobs (as was/am I), I wanted to take the opportunity to share with others how I managed to quit my job and still receive unemployment payments while looking for another one. This takes some finesse, awareness of your labor rights, and unfortunately it may not work for everyone. However, if you are desperate and planning on quitting anyway, or on the verge of quitting, I want to give you the chance to get paid while doing it as I did. This is not clickbait and it really did work for me. Please note – I am NOT a lawyer! Just a regular person who was working retail when someone tried to do me harm, which is ultimately what I believed enabled me to collect unemployment. If you're like I was, this situation is already attainable for you as well.
Essentially, you need to prove that your job is harmful to your health and that your employer did little or nothing to mitigate those harms, leading to you being in harm's way. If you think about it, that's basically the case for all of us in retail, right?
Step zero: Thoroughly research your state/locality's regulations related to unemployment. Google “unemployment if I quit due to health (STATE).” Read the shit out of it.
Every state has their own rules related to unemployment, some more lenient than others. You want to know in advance if this is even possible for you. If your state has a law that says, “No matter what, even if someone puts a gun to your head, if you quit your job you can never collect unemployment,” this will not work for you. Period. So know going in if this is an exercise in futility. The tricky thing about judges is they make their own rulings and they are not always aligned with the general political leanings of a given state, so it can be hard to predict their behavior. But if this is going to be impossible for you, you want to know that now.
Step one: Establish a documented pattern of work contributing to health problems.
You can do this in a number of ways. For me, I had a well-documented history of mental health issues connected with my work (you can also do regular health issues, like ulcers, stress headaches, etc – it needs to be intrusive to your life, though). I had taken multiple leaves of absence related to stress and depression (due to my job conditions). I had a therapist, a psychiatrist, and everyone was aware and documenting how harmful my job was to my health. I was not calculating a plan of quitting my job. My job was just ruining my life, and my openness about it with health care providers ended up helping me make the case that got me unemployment. The key is that your work has to connect to your health problems. If you're in a customer-facing position, this is fucking easy. Customers threaten and cuss you out every goddamn day. I know a psychiatrist/therapist isn't affordable for everyone, but unfortunately, there does have to be some kind of medical provider involved to successfully prove what we need to prove – that work caused or worsened your health problems and your employer's failure to mitigate them put you in harm's way. Best case scenario: a diagnosis of PTSD connected to your work. That's how I won (and frankly – I am fucking FUCKED up due to my time in retail, so I fucking EARNED that unemployment check, fuckers).
Step two: Ask your employer to mitigate these harms.
In order to be successful, you will likely need to ask your employer for help in mitigating the problems causing the health issues for you. For me, I reported the most egregious issues, but every time, the findings came back as that there were no changes necessary from HR. So I did my part but my employer did not do theirs. Point being – you more than likely need to ask your employer to fix things, and then they will inevitably fail to do so. That's how you make this case. And hey – maybe they will listen to you and fix it (HAHA! LOLOL good 1)
Step three: A bad event happens that puts you in harm's way.
This is the shitty part, but if you are in a situation like I was, you know it's going to happen. Essentially, something horrible needs to happen that not only worsens your health problems but helps you gain sympathy with the unemployment judge (you are almost guaranteed to have to take this to an appeal, so do not give up – we will get there in a moment). For me, the long story short is that a customer who came into my store threatened to kill me. It was a very serious situation that I won't get into, but police were involved. The more dramatic, the better. In this day and age, a lot of these situations are happening. If you've followed my steps, you have documented health issues (maybe a PTSD diagnosis) and you tried to get your employer to fix things (and they prob told you to fuck off). So you've done everything you can. Now a customer comes in, causes a scene, and you fear for your life. You tried de-escalation but it failed and for the safety of yourself and others you had to call the police (police are key IMO because they make the situation look hella dramatic and serious). You want to remain as professional as possible, be beyond reproach as fuck, do not let the customer suck you into to some screaming match – keep your eyes on the prize of unemployment. This does not work if you threaten the customer. Do whatever you can to remain safe. And you do have to wait for the right moment. It's not going to be believable if you call the cops because some cranky old lady rolled her eyes or something. It has to be serious.
Step four: Document the SHIT out of the bad event.
The second I got home from work that day, I just knew that the event was going to come up for me. I sat down, still mindfucked from the day, and wrote down the most detailed play-by-play I could. This is what I ended up presenting to the judge. Frankly, I was just a scared young woman doing her job and some rude, threatening asshole tried to do me harm, so it was hard not to see my side on this. But the fact that I wrote out my story and took time to note all the important details helped me a lot. Remember the time, the other staff involved who might be willing to back up your version of events, any sympathetic supervisors or customers, etc. No detail gets left out.
Step five: Quit OR take time off from your job (and then quit) because of your concern for your personal safety and health.
Write a letter of resignation thanking the company for its time employing you, but informing them that you can no longer work there because you simply feel that you are in harm's way when you go to work now, as evidenced by the bad event that occurred. I did this within a day or two of the event occurring to me. Frankly, I just couldn't do it anymore. I felt like I was going to get killed. That's why I quit, truly. This wasn't planned in advance, at least for me. I felt like my employer did not give a fuck if I died making them richer. Anyway, it is really, really important that you mention in your letter that your decision is due to your personal safety and health. You HAVE to mention that in your letter to build the case properly.
Note – if you have the option, consider taking FMLA. That will enable you to keep your health insurance while you figure things out. You can't actually apply for unemployment during FMLA, but if your true goal is time off, it may be an option. Look up local laws related to FMLA and study the shit out of them to see if it would work for you. Usually there has to be a certain number of employees, you have to have been with the job for at least a year, and the laws vary state by state. If you can't do it, then just quit.
Step six: Consider local regulations before applying for unemployment.
For me, I was making the argument that I was mentally unwell due to my time on the job (which was 100% true). In my state, that meant that as long as I was claiming to be too unwell to work, I could NOT collect unemployment. I had to wait until I was able to work. This may be the case where you are. Don't apply for unemployment immediately if you are arguing that your job destroyed your mental health. You have to take at least a couple of weeks off to “recuperate.” I realize that's not easy for everyone. You can try it without the time off, but I do feel like my decision to do that helped me mentally, and also made me more successful with the judge.
Step seven: Apply for unemployment.
Apply for unemployment in your state. Be honest about what happened – you quit your job, but it was because you were put in harms way due to an unsafe work environment that not only threatened your life but your health. Mention the bad event that led to you quitting. Mention the documentation you've built up from health care providers. Mention the work you did asking your employer to mitigate the harms you saw coming down the pipeline. Bottom line – you tried EVERYTHING to avoid this, but failed due to the actions of others, and had no other choice. This was beyond your control, and as such, you deserve unemployment under the law. This is an unusual argument, and it's true that it may not work for everyone, but it will work in some situations depending on how closely the earlier steps were followed.
Step eight: If you are denied (likely), appeal.
Your employer is more than likely going to fight your unemployment claim because you quit. Fine. But you fucking appeal that shit ASAP. Do not just let them get away with it. You have rights! Appeal. Reiterate the argument we laid out above. DO NOT GIVE UP. Expect an initial denial and don't get too discouraged.
Step nine: When you get to the unemployment hearing, make sure to attend.
Go to the hearing. If you work for a large company, there is a decent chance not even a company lawyer will show. Take the time between filing the appeal and getting the hearing to practice your story. Remind yourself that you DESERVE unemployment. Your LIFE was put at risk due to your employer's negligence. Your psyche and HEALTH were harmed. Tell your story. Give your speech to friends and family and have them critique it. Memorize the little details we talked about. Remember that the judge is “Your Honor” and commands respect. You respect that fuckin' judge. That person is the decisionmaker on your unemployment! You are telling the judge a story just like any trial lawyer would be, and trying to convince her/him to see your side here. Most people automatically want to side with you over some faceless corp, anyway. You need to give them a reason to. Study other cases in your state where people earned unemployment despite quitting, especially for health reasons.
We want to tell the judge that you were a hard worker and had every intention of working at x store long term, but due to the lack of safety and high stress, your health started declining. You reported it to the store, but they paid no heed. Then your life was threatened, you were nearly killed, and you felt you had no choice but to quit. You felt it was life or death. And Dr. So and So will attest to the PTSD you have developed from this job. Practice this story and believe it. If you are anything like me, this is already true for you anyway.
At this point, the judge will make a decision. My judge decided to immediately award unemployment to me. I need to say again, it is possible that will not happen for you, even if you do everything I've said. Some judges are assholes, some states have really shitty laws against workers. There are no guarantees. I can't promise you this will work. But I can give you a better shot at it if you're already planning on doing it, and I can give you my method that worked for me.
I wish you the best of luck, and fuck these customer service piece of shit company fucks.