[at-l] I Have This Friend

[gregbrown at mindspring.com (Greg Brown)]

Yes, that can be true.  In this instance I had another job lined up so 
I essentially got a nice separation check for walking out the door.

Eight months later, however, when the company I was working for shut 
the doors with two days notice I was on unemployment.  Quite a shocker, 
too.  I've had a steady income without breaks since I first started to 
deliver newspapers at 9 years old.  Now I'm thinking about taking six 
months off without pay voluntarily (!!) to thru-hike the AT in 2007.  
The tables have turned, I suppose.

Greg

On Mar 29, 2005, at 9:26 AM, Jim Bullard wrote:

> At 08:54 AM 3/29/2005 -0500, Greg Brown wrote:
>> Instead of quitting your friend can come straight out and asked to be 
>> laid off.  I did this at Lucent a couple years ago.  I volunteered 
>> for the layoff early, got my exit package, and out the door I went.
>
> {Red flashing light with the word "WARNING" stenciled on it}
> If your employer reports that you volunteered to be laid off there is 
> a strong possibility that your Unemployment Insurance office will deem 
> that as a quit. Trust me. I've written more than a few 
> disqualification notices on that one.
>
> Remember that most or all of the money that pays the benefits comes 
> out of the employer's pocket. At the time I last dealt with UI only 2 
> states taxed employee wages for any portion of UI benefits. Not many 
> employers want to pay benefits for someone who left voluntarily 
> regardless of what it is called. If you take this route you are 
> trusting that your employer will say "Laid off" when asked why you 
> aren't working there any more but neglect to mention that you 
> volunteered.
>
>