Being laid off
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Being laid off
During my maternity leave I asked my job if I could go back to full-time after maternity leave was over at that time I had someone who would be picking up my daughter they said yes I never signed anything that I was going from part-time to full time, I was full-time when I started but had to go down to pet time during pregnancy and left my job part-time, during maternity leave my person who was supposed to pick up my daughter had no vehicle anymore so I called my job and let them know that I was able to do part-time but from 8:30-2:30 and I could work Monday through Saturday I just needed to pick up my daughter whos school is 45 minutes away and she gets out at 3:25. The HR manager said she would talk to new manager about the schedule. She called back about 2 days after and let me know that schedule was not going to work she apologized and said they were going to have to let me go due to my availability. I applied for EDD unemployment and got denied due to my old job saying I quit, I appealed and sent them the letter of my job letting me know my job was being ended due to my availability. Can I win this case? What Can I say during hearing?
Asked on November 1, 2017 under Employment Labor Law, California
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
Did your termination violate the terms of an employment contract or union agreement? Did it constitute some form of legally actionable discrimination? If not you were an "at will" worker which means that your former company could have fired you for not being available for the hours that they needed to scheduled for. In fact, you could have been discharged for any reason or no reason at all, with or without notice.
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
Unfortunately, your availability restrictions are not your employer's concern: if you cannot work the hours they tell you to (employers, not employees, have 100% control over the hours of employment), that is the equivalent of quitting or resigning--you are refusing to go to work when required, which is resigning by behavior, not words. You most likely are not entitled to unemployment benefits in this situation.
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