I am required to sign termination papers??

I was terminated because of violation of company policies. I am not quite sure which policy that was but they say that after an investigation they determined that I had manipulated the incentice system.  I have file for unemployment benefits, because I feel that what they found was fabricated,  and was not enough grounds for termination. I never had as much as a writen warning nor was I given an opportunity to defend myself after they made such a determination. Now a week later my manager calls me, asking me to sign my termination papers, because she assures me that she cant find the ones i  had singed. She never presented such papers to me when she informing me that I was fire.. When she informed me I was fire, she instructed me to leave quitely, which i did. But now i like to know if i am required to sign this papers or if by signing I would be forfiting my unemployement benefits. please help me.

Tell her to take a hike.  You don't have to sign anything.

work0494:

But now i like to know if i am required to sign this papers or if by signing I would be forfiting my unemployement benefits. please help me.

You are not required to sign the papers.  Signing or not signing the papers will not affect your eligibility to receive unemployment insurance compensation (UIC).  When you file, you will need to be hosest (that you were fired) and will probably be given a short space in which to explain why.  You will need to be truthful but brief.  The state will determine whether or not you are eligible for UIC; it will confirm with your former employer why you were terminated.  If the state believes that what the employer alleged does not rise to the level of misconduct, you may be eligible for benefits.  If benefits are awarded, your former employer has the right to appeal the award, and a hearing would be held with an adjudicator, the former employer, and you.

work0494:

But now i like to know if i am required to sign this papers

No.

And you'd be a fool to even consider it.

No.

You have been fired.

Now they are calling you back, and asking you to drive back to their office to sign their paper.

Now why would you do that?

I think not.

I doubt there is anything in there that could help you and it sure might hurt you--I'd decline any such honor to sign!

I agree with the above responses. At this point, you don't owe them the time of the day. What's going to happen if you don't come in that hasn't already happened. If you are no longer an employee, they can't make you do anything any more than they can make a man on the street do something.

The only thing that I would do here is send your former employer a letter indicating that your final paycheck (if you have not received same), any COBRA info, if applicable,  and 2011 W-2 form, when available, should be mailed to: (insert address).

If they contest your claim for UI benefits, you fight that battle with the UI folks. Don't inadvertently give them any ammo that they might shoot back at you. Signing something might, in fact, do exactly that.

Me, I'd probably give my EX boss a polite call and ask her to mail me the paperwork she wants me to sign--no further comments at all--I doubt it, but she might do it.

I'll bet its loaded with sleeper problems against you like a cute admission you violated serious policy # 201.3.7 at least 4 times .

I'd save same for my file box--no further response.

But now i like to know if i am required to sign this papers  No, you're not and there's no reason why you should.

 or if by signing I would be forfiting my unemployement benefits.  No.  Your eligibility for UC benefits has nothing to do with signing your termination paperwork.

If your employer challenges your eligibility for unemployment, the burden will be on them to demonstrate to the State that you engaged in willful misconduct.  It appears they believe you manipulated the incentive system in your favor.  They can't just say you did that in order to have you disqualified for UC benefits - they have to show proof that you did so.

They can't force you to sign but refusing to do so does not benefit you in any way.

LynnM:

They can't force you to sign but refusing to do so does not benefit you in any way.

Sure it does.

It gives you the satisfaction of knowing you don't have to kowtow to those corpies anymore.

A powerful feeling.

Acting like a petty child is hardly empowering.

LynnM:

Acting like a petty child is hardly empowering.

No, but poking an oppressor in the eye certainly is.

:)

Actually, seriously however, the thing I might be worried about is what exactly am I signing that I are putting before me?

If there's no benefit to me for signing it, and no harm to me if I don't sign, why would I sign anything?

This might just be an old habit of mine, and maybe I'm paronoid, but I don't like sign anything I can't take home and look over, and more than likely have a lawyer read over before I put my signature on it.

I see no down side to not signing and no up side to signing.

maybe I am missing something, I don't know.

Anyway, just my opinion.

I agree that there is no requirement for the poster to sign.

However, since neither I nor the poster has read what it is s/he is being asked to sign, I have no way of assessing whether signing it would be good, bad or indifferent. And I can't quite see how anyone else who has not read it can say either.