by Annie
(Kentucky)
My check status keeps saying no check has been issued but I have been credited. I have done 3 weekly claims. Received the letter in the mail saying how much UI benefits I can get. And the letter saying I have been approved for UI benefits. I’ve also been putting in my job search.
Is there a next step? Am I missing something? I filed on the 19th but when I called to check on it my first 2 weeks are only showing up.
Like everyone else Im freaking out because bills are stacking and the holidays are around the corner.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Don’t Freak Out, At Least Not About This .. Yet. Sounds Like You May Just Need to Consider That Kentucky Has an Unpaid Waiting Week to Serve First
It sounds to me like you’re doing everything right Annie. But like a lot of other states, Kentucky is one that adheres to the rule of having an unpaid waiting week anyone who is allowed to collect, must first serve unpaid, before they can collect any benefits.
You qualified monetarily .. that’s good, but also something I’d expect for most employees .. not that states don’t frequently make monetary miscalculations based on math formulas.
But the good news is you were also initially found non-monetarily eligible based on the “available information” during the last part of the initial claim process.
And it’s very good you’ve been continuing to claim each week, but if you only applied three weeks ago, it makes sense to me that you would only be entitled to receive those two weeks of benefits thus far, because of the first week being an unpaid waiting period, and because we claim benefit weeks in arrears, of the actual date we certify our continuing eligibility to be entitled to collect in each and every week until re-employed.
So .. we certify for benefits in arrears and therefore we collect benefits arrears.
The exception to this “in arrears” concept, is when certifying for each specific week of benefits one is claiming their entitlement to receive, they have to report any earnings made during that week.. whether they’ve paid for any work yet, or not. This can and does lead some people to under-estimating and therefore, under-reporting how much they earned during the week they are certifying for. The issue might not pop up immediately for a person, but is does tend to be raised as an issue on a claim when noticed by the state.
The lag is caused because by the time the unemployment department can finally cross check reported earnings with .. let’s say wages reported to a state revenue, or other department .. it earning are now wage data submitted by employers in arrears (often quarterly for smaller employers).
I really .. really hate to hear what happens to people for unintentionally under reporting earnings while claiming unemployment benefits and have answered a lot of questions warning why we should always be extra careful to never under report .. or wait to get paid for any part-time work before we report earning in a different week.
I swear, I’m not trying to freak you out Annie, however I want you to consider that three weeks into your new claim, there is a good likelihood the appeal deadline for the initial non-monetary sep determination .. isn’t up yet and that’s usually when you’d find me breathing a minor sigh of relief for those who initially are allowed to collect.
But it might just be I’m a bit paranoid to expect all employers might appeal regardless of cause, or issue .. or the truth about a separation.
I blame this on my experience working for a cost control company helping employers out with their UI claim management .. where any VQs (voluntary quits) or DCs (discharges) ended up being generically appealed, whether for a right, wrong, or indifferent reason to the cause for a quit, or non-misconduct reason for termination from a job.
The exception to what I accept as a rule for managing claims was .. when someone was fired for a lack of work .. which is what being “laid off” means to me .. a lack of work or an employer willing to admit the fault for a person being unemployed with their initial response to the unemployment department.
Chris – Unemployment-Tips.com