verbally abusive boss/hostile work environment

[ejude8]

My boss is verbally abusive and has created a hostile work environment. My work performance is never questioned nor my work ethic as I always show up and work hard. There has never been a customer complaint about me. My boss gets pressure from the owner to increase billable hours and gets abusive with me in turn, but, I am not in a position to increase billable hours or increase customer revenue. He calls me "snot nosed kid"; threatens to reduce my salary if customer revenue doesn't increase; curses when I ask him for specs/requirements needed to get the job done ("just do the f'ng thing"); screaming and yelling, etc. This has been going on for over 2 years. Yesterday, when I said I needed to leave before the snowstorm got worse b/c I feared for my safety, he said "if you leave...don't come back". If I quit, am I elligible for unemployment while seeking a new job? I am fed up. Thank you.

 

[Proserpina]

Unfortunately it's not illegal to be a complete jerk. If you quit, you're generally not going to qualify for unemployment; in order to do qualify after quitting you'd have to have solid proof that you had a legitimate reason to quit. I'm not sure what you've described actually rises to that level.

 

[cbg]

The term, hostile work environment, has a very specific meaning under employment law and what you have described does not meet the definition. It takes more than a boss being a jerk (and yes, I agree that your boss is being a jerk). It's not an HWE unless you are being subjected to either sexual harassment, or illegal discrimination/harassment under Title VII and related laws (race, religion, national origin etc.).

The standard to quit and receive unemployment is very high and, like Proserpina, I am by no means sure that you have met the standard.

 

[theretoo]

Creating a hostile work enviornment, generally relates to sexual harassment or racial discrimination while retaliation relates to disability, Family Medical Leave discrimination, harassment.

 

[ejude8]

In the heat of the moment I said "consider this my two weeks notice" to my boss. No written resignation was ever submitted and my boss hasn't spoken to me since I uttered those words. Tomorrow will mark the two weeks. Am I bound by my verbal statement? I really do not want to lose my job. Thank you. (the "heat of the moment" was the day of the snowstorm incident)

 

[Patricia_Young]

You are if the company says you are.

Talk to your boss immediately and apologize and see if you can retract your statement.