Employer was late in their appeal.

by Laura

(Houston, MO)

Filed for unemployment benefits- got determintation I was denied- quit work. Clarification- put in two weeks- thought I had a job lined up as subcontractor, worked week one of the two- took friday off of week one- was not feeling well. Was called shortly thereafter with a message that said dont bother coming in for your last week.

With that said- I on the second week found out the job I thought I had- the guy went with someone else. So, I was willing to work my last week, and would have asked to keep my job, but was not afforded the opportunity to work or keep my job.

At any rate- I was late appealing- didnt know how I was supposed to- a lady at social services building told me what to do. Got letter they denied- appeal was late.

Now, I had an appeal over phone because my employers appeal to the inital claim was late. They tried to say they faxed it in time- by having a copy of the phone record, referee mentioned there was no proof that it was a fax, nor that if it was it applied to my case.

I just wonder if the employer is denied because their appeal was late- does that mean all of their information would be thrown out from the beginning, and I would be approved for UIC?? This has been going on since Jan 22, 2010. And yes- I have have no idea what I am doing! State is Missouri. Thanks if you can answer.

Hi Laura,

I haven’t been to Missouri’s unemployment website for a while .. it looks like it has changed and frankly, I think it doesn’t do a too bad a job of explaining their unemployment appeal process. Probably because they are an attorney state.

I think if you look closely at the initial determination it should include also, a determination that the employer had lost their protest rights because their protest was not timely. They must have appealed this determination .. otherwise .. I’m not sure why they would have received the hearing notice per this page on the MO website.

Therefore, the hearing officer’s decision on the timeliness of their protest is relevant to whether anything they submitted can be considered in the decision of your appeal of being denied benefits.

So I’ll just address the general knowledge I worked by and considered since the rules vary between the fifty-one jurisdictions of the clients I used to help.

My first concern would be to know what you told the state when you applied for benefits. Because people do not always tell the truth .. which is fraud.

If you told the truth to UI .. I wouldn’t be too concerned that the company wasn’t timely with the protest and would have probably advised not even bothering with an appeal or attending your hearing .. considering that you quit I would have supported this advice to the client by referencing something like this (copied and pasted from MO’s website)

Willcut v. Division of Employment Security, 193 S.W.3d 410 (Mo.App. E.D. 2006)
Claimant submitted a resignation in July that was effective August 31. The employer accepted the resignation, and then dismissed the claimant on July 29. The Court held that the claimant’s separation on July 29 was a discharge and was entitled to UI up to August 31, the date she was going to quit.

Since I already know that MO has a one week unpaid waiting week .. I just wouldn’t be too concerned about the amount of liability the employer was exposed to .. when they did discharge you I wouldn’t worry .. because you had told the state you resigned from your job to take a better job .. although in some states .. with an offer letter from the new employment proving the offer and better pay .. you may have had good cause to quit .. I still wouldn’t worry because usually, there is a corresponding provision allowing non-charging to the former employer for benefits.

I know, probably more that you wanted to know.

But the burden of proof to reverse the denial of benefits for quitting was yours .. not the employer.

Chris