Given choice of quitting or being dismissed

CALGACUS

Hi All,

Sorry to bring this thread back from the dead (it's only temporary!)

Just in case anyone else finds themselves in the same position that I was when I started this thread back in March, the situation is this:

• I resigned at the end of March as my manager was going out of his way to make my position untenable.

• I started a claim for JSA at the end of April (after my nominal notice period was up) - actually the company had let me leave as soon as I had handed in my resignation letter.

• On my claim for JSA, in the box regarding my reason for leaving my previous employment I put something along the lines of: "given choice of resigning or being dismissed".

• I had to fill in a single further form (actually just one photocopied side of A4 paper) to give further details of my reason for resigning. I simply explained the situation as I have above and stressed that I was being expected to use computer languages that I had no experience of and without being provided with any training.

• The DSS made no further enquiries of me, and my claim was processed promptly.

I'm now job hunting (a bit more selectively than I did last year) have had a couple of interviews, and am looking into doing a part-time course at my local university while I'm seeking another, more suitable, position.

Thanks for all the replies and advice that everyone provided me with on this thread, it was a all great help.

Cheers,

CAL.

Cate1976

Just to give my experience of seeking employment after dismissal.

From march 1999 - July 1999, I was working for a company in West Midlands which had small homes for adults with learning difficulties across the area. The home I worked in had previously been owned and run by the NHS, but then the private company took over. The private company changed a lot of the policies and procedures. At least 2 members of staff felt that the NHS policies were better than the new ways, one of them was prepared to do things using the new policies, the other wasn't which meant we often clashed. Fortunate thing was that after a few weeks, the staff member who was using new policies explained to me what had happened. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts I was dismissed for challenging other staff members and social skills. March 2000 I moved to Skegness and end of May applied for and got an interview for sleepover support ina home for adults with mental health problems, during the interview one of the questions was had I been dismissed from previous employment. Of course I was honest and said yes i had been for not following policies & procedures, person interviewing me said that policies and procedures were needed to which I replied that yes that is true but in the previous employment there were 2 sets of policies & procedures being used but I had only been told about the new ones. I left not feeling very confident but was very surprised to get a phone call saying I'd got the job.

Being dismissed doesn't necessarily mean you won't get interviews. To the OP, I'd suggest 2 possible routes, resign putting in letter that you've come to realise that the job isn't suitable for you giving the reasons. This will be better for you for future employment prospects, you could also say other reasons such as commuting costs going up. The jobcentre can sanction you for up to 26 weeks if you resign but in circumstances such as yours, they may well decide not to.

If you wait to be dismissed, you're more likely to have problems for future employment and could still be sanctioned by the jobcentre although they would consider the reasons.

For what it's worth, in your situation I'd resign before getting dismissed giving as many reasons as you can. When you go to the jobcentre, give them a copy of the letter. Unless it's changed, sanction means no money for 2 weeks, then after that you get 40% taken off your JSA.