Retirement Notice Cut Short (collecting, claim, qualify, work)

[dtragesser]

My mom gave her employer 3 months notice of he intended date for retirement. Her employer told her to leave in 1 month so she will have a 2 month gap without income before she can register with Social Security for her retirement. I understand her employer has the right to ask her to leave before her notice is fulfilled but can she qualify for unemployment benefits in California for the gap period? Thanks.

[Parnassia]

When was she planning to start taking SS? Was it right at retirement or some period of time after that? Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't CA unemployment recipients need to prove they're actively searching for new employment? Was working in addition to receiving SS her plan?

[Teacher Terry]

That’s why no one should give longer than a 2 week notice.

[Rabrrita]

Originally Posted by dtragesser

My mom gave her employer 3 months notice of he intended date for retirement. Her employer told her to leave in 1 month so she will have a 2 month gap without income before she can register with Social Security for her retirement. I understand her employer has the right to ask her to leave before her notice is fulfilled but can she qualify for unemployment benefits in California for the gap period? Thanks.

She's to decline the offer of early retirement and instead inform them she will continue working until her original resignation date.

The employer can let her work until her original last day or they can terminate her early.
- If she works up until her last day or she voluntarily accepts an early retirement date, she will not be eligible for benefits as her quitting was for personal reasons not attributable to her employer.
- If they terminate her early, she's entitled to benefits as terminating a person to accommodate the retirement date desires of the company is not misconduct so it's not disqualifying.

Now the key is she needs to make sure she tells them "no thanks". If they ask her to end her employment in a month and she keeps her mouth shuts and just follows what they ask like a meek mouse, she can be denied benefits as she's not under any duress to quit nor is it a 'quit or be fired' scenario. It will be adjudicated as the company simply making an offer and she voluntarily accepts it. So she MUST notify them that she is declining their offer and will remain working until the original date of her resignation/retirement.

Just so you can let her know, this is a common tactic of employers to avoid having a chargeable unemployment claim by getting the employee to make a mistake like voluntarily agreeing to leave early. Don't let her fall for it.

Also know that if she plays it right, she may be able to continue collecting benefits even after her retirement date. Her claim will be adjudicated based on why she was unemployed at the time she became unemployed. If the company terminated her, she wasn't unemployed at that time due to retirement, she was unemployed because the company let her go. Once she's approved, so long as she continues to qualify for benefits, she gets paid. But. we'll cross that bridge if she's terminated before her original resignation date.

[Listener2307]

Yeah. Your mom was fired. She should draw unemployment for the 2 months.

[Rabrrita]

Originally Posted by Listener2307

Yeah. Your mom was fired. She should draw unemployment for the 2 months.

A lot of it depends on the State. Most states will have some cut-off period where the resignation goes from a voluntary quit to a termination. Usually it's at the traditional customary two week mark. If you resigned with greater than 2 weeks notice, if terminated by the employer before 2 weeks, it's adjudicated as an employer termination, not a voluntary quit. Often when that happens, the adjudication overrides the resignation which means benefits will continue past the resignation date so long as the person qualifies.

I had a person contact me regarding a similar situation. They were retiring and taking a pension from the company but they gave a 2 month resignation notice. The company response was to accelerate their retirement in 2 weeks. As a result, the ALJ ruled the company terminated the employment and at that time, terminating due to retirement eligibility was a company business decision and was not based on the conduct of the employee. So they got benefits.

However, the company filed a protest on chargeability past the original retirement date citing the person's voluntary retirement. After hearing the facts and applying state unemployment regulations, the second ALJ ruled that since the original claim was an involuntary termination not due to misconduct and benefits were granted, so long as the claimant was meeting all the requirements of a continued claim, they remain eligible for continued benefits. The issue of the retirement resignation was no longer in-play as the claim was for a company termination not retirement and not resignation.

This sis why it's so important for employees approaching retirement to know what the heck their state's regulations say about retirement resignations and an employer accelerated separation.