Just curious if it is worth my trouble to try to get unemployment benifits. I am (or was) a cashier and was fired over the phone at home during my dinner time on my day off because my boss said he had a couple of complaints from customers that I was rude. I do not know if this is really true or not, I have no proof and I personally do not remember being rude to any customers. Over a year ago my employer told me that he had had a couple of complaints that I was rude but after we talked about these and I had witnesses that said it was not true things got back to normal at my job. Nothing more was ever said. We had agreed that if anyone ever complained about me again he would talk to me right then and find out if it was true or not. I do not care what they say..the customer is Not always right!!

Now he is saying he got complaints 2 months ago of which I heard nothing and another one recently which he told me nothing about again, so how do I know if he is telling the truth?

My employer has been unhappy with me I belieive ever since I questioned something he did and also because I became scarce on my days off over the July holidays and he was short handed and I wasn't to be found. (We are not on call or anything like that). He is one of those kinds that do not feel his employees have the right to question anything.

My question I guess is there any rules in SC that an employer has to give you any number of warnings, verbally or especially written to prove I have been warned of something that could cause my termination? If I did not have any written warnings should I be able to collect unemployment benifits in SC. I understand they are a little backwards in this state compared to some but I was wondering if I have a leg to stand on to collect. It is not really the amount I will get to collect as much as I would love to prove him wong if he is. I realize an employer can fire you anytime he wants but can I be denined unemployment benifits if he did not do it correctly? Would love to know the rules or where I could find out the rules for termination and collecting benifits. Thanks in advance for any help on this matter.

It's truly up to the UC board on if you qualify for benefits or not. Generally speaking, you would qualify for UC if you were laid off or unfairly fired. IMHO what you describe would not constitute as "unfair" in the eyes of the decision makers.

It never hurts to apply. The worst that could happen is that you'll be denied UC benefits. I suppose your concerns are if your former boss challenges your UC claim. If this happens, he would need to demonstrate probably cause for the termination. The "complaints" may only be one of the components that factored into the termination decision. Often the other reasons will be brought to light during this process. There are no specific regulations that require an employer to "write up" an employee x number of times to terminate. So the fact that you were never written up is not relevant.

Useful links:
http://www.scjustice.org/pdfs/unemployment_brochure.pdf

Thanks for responding so quickly.

There are no rules per se as to issuing warnings, but if the employer wishes to prevail then it is best to establish that the former employee knew or should have known his job was in jeopardy.

In your case, the burden will be upon the employer to demonstrate that your conduct was a willful and deliberate violation of policy or reasonable expectation. While you cannot and should not argue that the employer even absent a written policy has an expectation that ist staff will be courteous to all customers, you can certainly argue that you always were courteous. The employer must prove you were not. Hearsay evidence will not sustain their burden of proof. In other words, the customers would have to come in and testify. Moreover, the fact that the incident and complaint was one (1) month ago does not help the employer. In fact, you can and should argue that the matter could not have been that egregious if the employer took so long to take action. Finally, the lack of any written and/or final warnings in this matter lessens the employer's argument that your conduct was so egregious as to constitute willful and deliberate misconduct.

Thanks so much, that is what I thought but you enlightend me as to how it should be worded if I need to go that far. Thanks again!!