Denied unemployment benefits after completing a contract assignment

by Joe

(St. Paul, MN)

I was denied unemployment benefits after completing a contract assignment, for what I can tell are two reasons.
1) The State (MN) believes that I quit the assignment – this is untrue, the assignment was completed.
2) I did not contact the contractor firm within 5 days of completing the assignment. – This again is untrue, as I did contact the firm.
My question, is what documentation should I bring to the appeal, and how do I present this information via a phone hearing?

Answer

Hi Joe,

I’ve moved this blog submission to the questions about working for a temporary staffing agency.

I have my own unemployment story about working for this type of employer after I was laid off .. but they must of forgot who I was working temp for after years as a regular permanent employee.

First things first. We need to know if Minnesota unemployment law has a provision for voluntary quits when not contacting a temp agency at the completion of an assignment for an additional assignment. (lobbyist:(.

They do. I know because I quickly, checked Table 5-7 in the latest revision of DOLETA’s Non-monetary UI law comparison tables.

I’m sure some would call me foolish for obsessively, harping about counter documenting.

But then I remember that’s why I got benefits from both her original employer and the temp outfit they called me back through. Documenting my communications with both is what saved me from the games of attrition they enjoy using and call strategical and tactical.

I did by not just talking and having conversations, but following every relevant conversation up, with an email so I could prove without any doubt a conversation took place and the content of the “talk” was also known to the employer as well via an email they might of never replied to.

So Joe, the question I have is did you just call .. or email to request inform of the completion and request a new assignment.

Call if you want people .. but follow up conversations to confirm and seek clarification when necessary.

Hi temp recruiter,

I want to thank you for taking the time to speak with me today when I called to inform you of the completion of my latest assignment.

I understand from our talk that although you have nothing new for me now, you’ll keep me in mind. I will be checking in as required in hopes you’ll have something soon.

However, please do not hesitate to both call and email me if anything comes up sooner.

I’m anxious to get back to work as soon as possible as you might imagine.

Regards,

Your faithful out of work again, temp employee

Chris

PS Of course I should mention to the literal .. leave out any derisiveness.