If you’ve recently been laid off, you may have to fight for your right to collect unemployment benefits from the government. You probably know that if you are fired, you can collect unemployment benefits. Although qualifications can vary from state to state, generally however only people who are laid off from their jobs will qualify for unemployment benefits. But did you know that, even if you are laid off, your employer can challenge your right to receive benefits?
It’s not obvious at first why any business would want to prevent an employee caught up in massive job lay-offs from feeding their families until they find another job. After all, the money is coming from the government, right? The answer to that is yes and no. The money that is used to pay unemployment benefits comes from unemployment insurance fees that employers pay into (similar to other government taxes). Whenever an employer lays off workers and these workers file for unemployment benefits, the employer’s unemployment insurance rates go up. It still costs less to the employer than paying the actual salaries of the laid off employees, but many employers who are trying to cut costs are willing to do anything to prevent rising insurance rates of any kind.
The way they do this is to challenge the laid-off workers’ rights to collect benefits by claiming that the employee was fired for poor performance, rather than laid off due to the company’s financial difficulties. If a worker is let go for performance-based reasons, the employer doesn’t have to pay additional unemployment insurance for them. So companies are increasingly telling the government that laid off workers were actually fired for negligence or poor performance. If your employer challenges your right to unemployment benefits, you will likely have to get involved in some sort of mediation, either in court or through a similar process that involves a small hearing.
If you haven’t already done so – get started with unemployment claim filing.
Noted financial author.
Image taken on 2009-09-28 15:16:08. Image Source. (Used with permission)
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