attendance issues

by Amanda

(Texas)

Hello, I really hope you can help me. I’ve been online looking for an answer to this, but I haven’t found anything. I have been approved for unemployment already here in the state of Texas and I started a job on Monday through a temporary agency but I called in sick Tuesday and Wednesday and the temporary agency let me go because of attendance issues. I was sick and I just couldn’t make it in. I was at the job they placed me at for only 1 day. My concern is that when I call in to request payment that they will ask for the name of the place and phone number and will call them and do an investigation. All they ask for when you request payment is the hours and the gross pay amount before taxes. My concern is that they will do this investigation and take away my remaining benefits. What are the chances of them contacting this temporary agency and asking for information when it’s only for 1 day? Also, can I still get the benefits that I have remaining even though I was let go for attendance issues? If you could please help me with this, I would greatly appreciate it.

Hi Amanda,

I think the chances are very good they will contact the temp agency.

Whether you will be allowed to keep getting benefits depends on why you were fired.

Attendance issue are not always disqualifying .. especially if you were fired for being sick.

Hopefully you have some kind of handbook from the temp agency which explains their attendance policy. Usually, an employer must follow a progressive discipline and at least warn you that your job is in jeopardy.

I suspect this temp agency is just acting in a smart way .. they have a tough time with unemployment claims and if you called in sick two days after only working one .. they just cut their losses instead of letting you work more for them and earning more wages they could one day have to pay unemployment benefits on.

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Attendance Issue

by: Amanda

Hello,

I did speak with someone at the unemployment office and they told me that if you miss 2 or more days due to being sick you would answer that question ‘were you physically able to work each and every day’ as a no. I had one person tell me that I wouldn’t get paid for 1 week but that I wouldn’t lose all of benefits all together and I had another one tell me that I could lose all of my benefits but by me being out sick I couldn’t help that. She also said that if they do an investigation that they will place a hold on my benefits until a determination has been made. Is this true? How long does it take to get a determination back? I just hope that I don’t lose everything all together.

Yes, they do place holds on the benefits and that didn’t use to be a HUGE problem, but now with so many people being unemployed .. some people have had to wait over a month just for the investigation to be completed.

As far as the A&A issue .. it depends on the state as to whether you are completely not able and available due to two days .. so it is wise to call the department to find out .. although California residents could check the benefit determination guide.

Amanda, I don’t see anyway to get around the need for an investigation .. not if you don’t want to chance dealing with a potential fraud issue.

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Thanks a million!

by: Amanda

Thank you so much for getting back to me so quickly! I greatly appreciate it! I’ve been freeting over this for some time now. I have yet another question though. When you are requesting payment for the 2 claim weeks, it asks if you were physically able to work each and every day. How would I answer that question? Would I answer that question as being no? If I answer it as no, would I put that I was sick for 2 days?

You know Amanda .. I’ve never quite figured out if they only mean if you are just looking for work or whether it includes when you have picked up some work, but were sick.

I know it’s tough to get through to any UI department, but I would feel better if you asked them to clarify this for you .. you can come back and tell everybody what they told you ..

I for one would appreciate it.

Sorry.

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