In article <c381fvomg5l9t8at3buddm82k1h0l351ib@4ax.com>,
pjhartman@yahoo.com (P.J. Hartman) wrote:
michaeljc70@hotmail.com (MC) wrote in message news:<l6euevkns9b4lumoa7qhd7g4jq0offau7s@4ax.com>... I know it may vary by state (I am in Illinois), but my employer asked me to take a 20% pay cut. If I say no and they fire me, am I eligible for unemployment? Ask them if they'll accept a 20% work cut in exchange! Seriously, though, my take on this is that if you're dismissed for refusing to accept a voluntary pay decrease, that it's a discharge *without* cause, and you would be eligible for unemployment.

Be careful: "refusing to accept" employment conditions
(including salary level) is a synonym for "quit the job". There
are probably specific state regulations defining what counts as
"constructive termination" or the equivalent of firing, for
example a 99% pay cut.

Unless the change amounts to constructive termination, or an
employment or union contract exists, the employer doesn't need to
"ask" an employee to accept a pay cut; the employer simply sets
the conditions of continued employment, take the job or leave it.
If you leave it you are quitting your job and might be ineligible
for unemployment compensation.

-- Stephen Selipsky