D
Darlene7854
Guest
What is the name of your state? Georgia
I was employed as a Clerk/Secretary for the county prosecutor. My working conditions changed and my workload duties increased without a raise in pay. My original duties were to keep up with approximately 3,000 yearly misdemeanor warrants and citations, enter said cases into the database, prepare accusations for each case, gather the necessary evidence for prosecution, organize cases monthly for state court calendars, subpoena witnesses and law enforcement officers, communicate with the witnesses and law enforcement officers reference their availability to come to court and many other reasons, and I went to court to assist the solicitor and assistant solicitor. Within the last year, the state court began a new program called “Pre-Trial Intervention Program” in an effort to save the county money without appointing attorneys (as court appointed) allowing people to enter a plea, pay a fine or probation and then not have the case recorded, once the fine and/or probation was completed. My role in this program in addition to my already overloaded workload was to prepare all of the paperwork, set appointments with and meet with the potential participant. I would then assist them in completing their portion of the paperwork, interview them, do a background investigation and make a decision as to whether they qualified for the program or not.
My employer, told me he would go to the County Administrator and get me additional money for the extra work and increased duties that I had to handle. However, he failed to follow through with this.
Sometime around November, 2002, my employer allowed another attorney to rent space in our office. I was told this would not be any additional work for me. Due to the fact that I sat at the front desk, I was constantly interrupted; either by someone coming through the door asking for the other attorney, someone calling and wanting to speak to the other attorney or calling and wanting the other attorney’s phone number. This caused me to begin falling behind in my duties, which resulted in me becoming very stressed. I began taking my work home in the evenings and weekends, putting in many additional hours in order to keep up with my workload.
In an effort to try to remedy some of the problem, I moved to a back office. This office that I was moving to was not really an office – it was designed as a storage room. It is very small and had no window. My employer told me he would have a window installed for me, but he did not follow through with it. It got to the point I was coming home in tears.
The above mentioned events, caused a tremendous increase workload, along with my other duties in the office.
In July, 2003, it appeared to me like it was going to get worse when my co-worker announced that she would have to be out of work for at least 6-weeks on medical leave due to some necessary surgery. My employer said he was not going to hire anyone to replace her while she was out. This was indicative to me that I would have to cover her position as well as mine while she was out. I didn’t feel this would be humanly possible for one person to do everything. It was at this point that I realized I had to quit. I was suffering and so was my family.
On the day my co-worker was supposed to have her surgery, she cancelled her surgery. I then tried to withdraw my resignation and was denied the ability to do so.
Do you think I had good cause for quitting? I think I deserve unemployment benefits while I try to find another job. I worked for this prosecutor for 7 years.
Thank you for any feedback. advice or opinions you have to offer.
Darlene7854
I was employed as a Clerk/Secretary for the county prosecutor. My working conditions changed and my workload duties increased without a raise in pay. My original duties were to keep up with approximately 3,000 yearly misdemeanor warrants and citations, enter said cases into the database, prepare accusations for each case, gather the necessary evidence for prosecution, organize cases monthly for state court calendars, subpoena witnesses and law enforcement officers, communicate with the witnesses and law enforcement officers reference their availability to come to court and many other reasons, and I went to court to assist the solicitor and assistant solicitor. Within the last year, the state court began a new program called “Pre-Trial Intervention Program” in an effort to save the county money without appointing attorneys (as court appointed) allowing people to enter a plea, pay a fine or probation and then not have the case recorded, once the fine and/or probation was completed. My role in this program in addition to my already overloaded workload was to prepare all of the paperwork, set appointments with and meet with the potential participant. I would then assist them in completing their portion of the paperwork, interview them, do a background investigation and make a decision as to whether they qualified for the program or not.
My employer, told me he would go to the County Administrator and get me additional money for the extra work and increased duties that I had to handle. However, he failed to follow through with this.
Sometime around November, 2002, my employer allowed another attorney to rent space in our office. I was told this would not be any additional work for me. Due to the fact that I sat at the front desk, I was constantly interrupted; either by someone coming through the door asking for the other attorney, someone calling and wanting to speak to the other attorney or calling and wanting the other attorney’s phone number. This caused me to begin falling behind in my duties, which resulted in me becoming very stressed. I began taking my work home in the evenings and weekends, putting in many additional hours in order to keep up with my workload.
In an effort to try to remedy some of the problem, I moved to a back office. This office that I was moving to was not really an office – it was designed as a storage room. It is very small and had no window. My employer told me he would have a window installed for me, but he did not follow through with it. It got to the point I was coming home in tears.
The above mentioned events, caused a tremendous increase workload, along with my other duties in the office.
In July, 2003, it appeared to me like it was going to get worse when my co-worker announced that she would have to be out of work for at least 6-weeks on medical leave due to some necessary surgery. My employer said he was not going to hire anyone to replace her while she was out. This was indicative to me that I would have to cover her position as well as mine while she was out. I didn’t feel this would be humanly possible for one person to do everything. It was at this point that I realized I had to quit. I was suffering and so was my family.
On the day my co-worker was supposed to have her surgery, she cancelled her surgery. I then tried to withdraw my resignation and was denied the ability to do so.
Do you think I had good cause for quitting? I think I deserve unemployment benefits while I try to find another job. I worked for this prosecutor for 7 years.
Thank you for any feedback. advice or opinions you have to offer.
Darlene7854
