Quote Quoting PayrolGuy
View Post
If you sign that document it will make getting unemployment difficult at best and impossible at worst.
And your receiving unemployment benefits causes the employers tax rate to go up. This costs them money. Therefore they'd like to get you to agree that you are "resigning." That means you are out of a job THROUGH YOUR OWN CHOICE, which is not the case here at all. They're trying to cheat on their unemployment requirements, to your detriment. Why on earth should you agree to this?

Even if you sign a statement saying you don't want unemployment, that you agree to say you resign, you should immediately file a claim for benefits, though it will definitely make it more difficult if you decide to lie like this to get severance or whatever it is that they are offering you. I probably wouldn't do it.

It's not going to 'hurt your reference' if you are terminated instead of resigning. Being downsized or having your position eliminated is something that happens to people all the time, and it is illegal for a company to ask employees to sign away their rights to unemployment, as it would be illegal to have people sign a waiver that they "didn't want" to receive minimum wage or you agree to being sexually harassed or something like that. You cannot sign away your protections under the law.

But meantime, I would not sign this, unless signing it got me a considerable severance package, and then I'd immediately take that letter agreeing to do this, and file a claim for unemployment benefits immediately, showing them this letter. They'll tell you how to deal with severance money and get your claim going, do not worry about whether to file if you get severance, just go on and do it, and let them tell you how they will deal with the severance if you receive any.