I have an employee in CA that put his two-weeks notice in about a week ago. The board of directors wants to let him go immediately, with almost a week left that he is still expecting to work. If I ask him to pick up his check today and not come to work anymore, will that be legally equivalent to firing him? Would he then be able to collect unemployment? Thank you for taking the time to answer this.

No, it is not firing him; it is accepting his resignation early, which is entirely legal.

However, in some states, and I believe, though I am not positive, CA is one of them, he would be eligible for unemployment for that period of his notice that you did not have him work.

Yep, CA is one of them. And there is a week waiting period for benefits to start. http://www.edd.ca.gov/uibdg/umi20.htm

So for California, does it mean that a person who gives 2 week notice and then is let go early, voluntarily quit or was terminated?

We have certain positions (e.g. sales) in which our management would prefer to let them go as soon as notice is given as to them leaving the company. However, we would also like to avoid them using unemployment.

Thanks for your insight. Also, I would greatly appreciate it if you have a link to any legal doc's that discus this topic.

Brook P.