Wrongfully fired and then asked to return the next day -- Views? Law advice?

[freeadvice30]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

Is it legal to be terminated if you do not sign a disciplinary report under duress, without proper time to review, and while you were off the clock?
If you file for unemployment benefits based on what you believe is wrongful termination, but your employer recants the firing and offers you your job back the very next day stating that they were just angry, can you refuse the offer to return or will it affect your ability to collect unemployment while you search for other work opportunities?

 

[Chyvan]

Is it legal to be terminated if you do not sign a disciplinary report under duress, without proper time to review, and while you were off the clock?

Yes. It would have been legal to terminate you even if you had signed it, and it would have been ok to fire you if you were the best worker the employer ever had.

If you file for unemployment benefits based on what you believe is wrongful termination, but your employer recants the firing and offers you your job back the very next day stating that they were just angry, can you refuse the offer to return or will it affect your ability to collect unemployment while you search for other work opportunities?

While I'm not in your state, when I went through a "refusal of work," my UI worker said, "we don't make you go back to an employer that fired you."

The better reason to go back is because FL is down to 14 to 16 weeks of UI benefits with a max benefit of $275/wk. It's just not a state where I'd want to take my chances on UI.

 

[cbg]

Yes, it is quite legal to fire you if you do not sign a disciplinary review no matter what the circumstances; in fact we warn people when they ask that refusal to sign can result in a LEGAL termination. That would not be a wrongful termination, even if you were off the clock when you did whatever. It would not even be a wrongful termination if you didn't do what they claim you did. That's not what wrongful termination means.

FYI signing it does not mean you agree you did wrong; it means you have been advised of management's view on the matter. There is really no upside to a refusal to sign.

 

[commentator]

I would go back to work, keeping in mind that the employer may be profoundly out to get you at this point. He figured out that you were sort of a shoo in for unemployment benefits under the circumstances in which he fired you (but keep in mind, it was NOT an illegal termination, just would've made it easy for you to be approved for benefits, which would've cost them money)

So, Florida's unemployment amount and duration being so poor and pitiful, even if you are approved, I'd come back to work, looking like crazy in my spare time for that next job to move on to before I got the axe or was pushed and pushed until the work place was so miserable I was forced to quit. Because if you voluntarily quit the job, you have no job and very little chance of drawing any unemployment.

Once you have been fired by an employer, you are not considered to have refused suitable work if you do not return to work if they offer it. Many an employer has figured out that they have messed up, their former employee is going to be approved for unemployment and has offered for them to return to work....till of course, they can figure out a better way to get rid of them! That's always the unsaid caveat to that situation. Once you have been terminated, you have severed your work relationship with the employer, and it is no longer considered a refusal of suitable work if you don't return.

 

[Alex1119]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

Is it legal to be terminated if you do not sign a disciplinary report under duress, without proper time to review, and while you were off the clock?
If you file for unemployment benefits based on what you believe is wrongful termination, but your employer recants the firing and offers you your job back the very next day stating that they were just angry, can you refuse the offer to return or will it affect your ability to collect unemployment while you search for other work opportunities?

Any state except Montana can terminate you for any reason. Or rather employment at will. It can be something silly like the boss doesn't like your shirt, but it is legal. I was terminated (not "fired" but just "dropped from payroll") a week following my c-section because they wanted me back right away, and felt my doctor's instructions of "6 weeks of surgery recovery" was asking way too much. They can really do whatever they want. Best advice is to start your own business, but you may do best taking the job back and searching for a new one.

 

[cbg]

Alex, in your case that might have been one of the few exceptions and actually was unlawful. How long ago did this happen and in what state are you?

 

[Chyvan]

FL is down to 14 to 16 weeks of UI benefits

If you thought this sounded ok for UI, then I need to modify it.

http://www.floridajobs.org/job-seekers-community-services/reemployment-assistance-center/connect-general-information/connect-faqs

"What is the maximum amount of benefits I can receive?
Florida maximum benefits adjust every year based on the previous year’s unemployment rates.

2015 Claim Maximums: 14 weeks 2016 Claim Maximums: 12 weeks
Weekly Benefit Amount (WBA): $275 Weekly Benefit Amount (WBA): $275
Maximum Benefit Amount (MBA): $3850 Maximum Benefit Amount (MBA): $3300"

I don't know the finer points of FL's number of week calculation. I thought it fluctuated as the UI rate changed, but based on the above, I think it is set only once a year. You'll be locked in to no more than 12 weeks. That's practically not having a UI system at all.

 

[commentator]

It is not those low down people who work in the unemployment office who are trying to take away your benefits. It is state legislatures and governors like the one they have in Florida right now who are trying like mad to dismantle the whole program, so that as in the early days of the monopolies and the robber barons, they can starve their workforce into submission by cutting their hours if they ask for rights and privileges like a living wage or something.

Florida is being sued by the feds coming and going due to their woeful administration of the program and their failure to provide services to a huge part of their population, their failure to make their system at all user friendly, those stupid ass drug testing regulations, their failure to respond and get out decisions in a timely manner (when you have no staff, you can't do things in a timely manner!) and everything else they're currently trying to make it impossible for people to get access to unemployment benefits. I hate to watch a good program that has improved the quality of life for many people made such a mess of.

 

[Just Blue]

It is not those low down people who work in the unemployment office who are trying to take away your benefits. It is state legislatures and governors like the one they have in Florida right now who are trying like mad to dismantle the whole program, so that as in the early days of the monopolies and the robber barons, they can starve their workforce into submission by cutting their hours if they ask for rights and privileges like a living wage or something.

Florida is being sued by the feds coming and going due to their woeful administration of the program and their failure to provide services to a huge part of their population, their failure to make their system at all user friendly, those stupid ass drug testing regulations, their failure to respond and get out decisions in a timely manner (when you have no staff, you can't do things in a timely manner!) and everything else they're currently trying to make it impossible for people to get access to unemployment benefits. I hate to watch a good program that has improved the quality of life for many people made such a mess of.

I love this post!! ^