Misclassified worker in Pa

by Mike

(Pennsylvania)

There is alot of information that i wish to convey so one can get a better understanding of my particular case, however it is limited on a forum. Let me start by saying that i am a Satellite installer that was hired as an independent contractor. I was unhappy with my employer as the relationship was and did get more controlling over time. At no time was i allowed to exercise my rights as a IC. I complained to Labor and Industries and they in fact found that i was a employee. Does this constitute a valid reason to quit employment? I was notified of this decision in March or thereabouts, in April i quit.
It would take a page or two to explain all that is involved, so i will limit it to just this question. I feel that in missclassifying my status, Is a compelling reason to quit because i am not allowed to exercise any rights as a IC. I was not allowed to make my own schedule as what a IC can do, I was not allowed to set my own price, and was limited in the price i had control of setting i.e; pole mounts, non standard work. i was not allowed to refuse work, or rather, i could but i wouldn’t expect to get work for a week,or the work that i would get would be 2 hours away. I feel that employer has violated the most basic rights to an employee which resulted in not only lost wages(overtime, which there was tons of it in this business) social security ect ect.. I think that this could be used as good cause to terminate employment, especially since i quit within 30 days of finding this out. I have found no case law that would suggest anyone has used this in conjunction with other issues. I think case precedent needs to be established. I am not the only one in this position there are millions of workers that have been misclassified and denied benefits.

I will get into other areas of this as time permits,hopefully. I am in the process of filing an appeal of the referee.

The determination of the Unemployment Compensation Referee is not supported by substantial evidence.
AND
The determination of the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review is based on errors of law

Could i just put this on the appeal and call it a day, or is there more information on each issue i object to.

thanks

Hi Mike,

Quite frankly, you have not been clear enough to even begin to answer you.

You tell me if I am assuming anything correctly.

After filing a complaint it was determined that you in fact were an employee and not an IC .. this I get and you are not the first nor will you be the last to find out an employer is fudging to get out of paying cost associated with “employees”.

It sounds like within 30 days of this being determined by the state you quit your employment because it was found you were in fact an employee and you had issues with not being paid overtime for all the time that went before.

And it was subsequently found that you quit without good cause attributable to the work.

And now you want to appeal to the board of review and you want to know what you should base your appeal on.

You are correct. The error needs to be the referees. Case law or “precedent decisions” .. yes, wouldn’t it be nice for the average citizen to have access to that so they can avoid hiring an attorney .. which is what I suggest you do.

But if you’re willing to search .. then you can either do so by by using this nearly worthless tool Or you can go to a law library and find some Annotated statutes and case law.

Or you could go to loislaw and pay for one of the short pass options to research case law.

You realize it’s easy to file an appeal to the board of review too, but it is by no means easy to get the decision reversed or the hearing remanded back down to be heard de novo. If you couldn’t win the lower level hearing .. which only examines the facts of your situation .. how do you win the board appeal which examines the lower level hearing for correctness of interpretation of case law and proper administrative procedures?

That usually requires a legal brief .. and the ability to assert a compelling argument based on case law and or procedures.

Comments for Misclassified worker in Pa

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May 22, 2015
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Advertising on your site?

by: Anonymous

You have a great niche site!

I would like to place some ads on your site, is it possible?

Please, answer me and we’ll discuss all details, I will pay nice money and really want to be on your site!

Many thanks for answering!

Hi Anonymous .. talk about misclassification.

Your question is no where near close to being related to the original question related to being an employee.

You may not of realized this when you added the link, but all submissions and comments for the blog pages are moderated by none other than little old Chris.

Sorry, I did a little editing to exclude the link to a website I’m only assuming as yours.

Your inquiry about advertising on
Unemployment-Tips.com would of felt more authentic .. genuine, had you used a more appropriate way to contact me about the possibility of advertising here.

Jan 29, 2010
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Just an Update

by: Mike

Well, it’s been almost 3 months since i filed for an appeal of the rereree’s decision, nothing has come of it so far. I check the status of my claim every two weeks when i file, and it says that it is under appeal and i will be notified diretly by the referee’s office.

I will update again when something new happens.

Dec 07, 2009
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RE:

by: Mike

I appealed on the grounds the referee was a moron. Seriously, i focused on not being paid properly and breach of contract.

As i said earlier, i think that the referee used evidence that wasn’t related. He didn’t even know what was in his file at the time of the hearing. I had to point something out to him. He had such a smug and arrogant attitude. I got caught up in the he said she said routine, and turned my attention to defensive rather than offensive. It was almost as if it was scripted.. weird.

I spoke to a lawyer, on a unrelated issue, and he says that the appeal to the UCBR is not going to be in person. I did not know this. I guess what they are going to do is look over the file and testimony and see if the referees decision is justified. If i had known that this was going to happen, i would of filed a long brief. Instead i just put the above mention quotes in the reason.

We shall see.

Yup, we will see. I happen to read a transcript from a hearing just recently .. the hearing was conducted by the same referee as yours .. My impression after reading it was that he is not only arrogant, but condescending and lazy when discharging his responsibilities as a referee.

I even know how old he is now because he went on and on about when he was born .. including the year.

That’s a very good point you make about being offensive instead of defensive at unemployment hearings ..

Nov 17, 2009
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RE:

by: Mike

He was a bit arrogant when i drove to johnstown to look over the file. All during the hearing he was arrogant too.
I will be contacting MidPenn Legal,maybe call the UC center, but as a last resort as i don’t think they are willing to help employees other then helping them look for work.
I looked over that “useless link” you provided, boy you weren’t kidding. I did find some interesting things though.
I have found relevant issues in regards to misclassication of employment, FedeX and Cornell, However i think it was initailly the arguement. Still nothing on using misclassification as a reason to quit.

From what i understand of Pa law, i can get a copy of the transcript free of charge after i file an appeal. So once i get the letter stating there is a hearing date, i will ask for that, it does have to be in writing.

Mike.

Mike,

Tell me, what was the focus of your appeal?

Did the employer not want to pay the overtime once it became known you were misclassified? Or had you lost faith in the employers integrity?

Just curious.

Nov 17, 2009
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RE:

by: Mike

Yes a lawyer would have been great but like many of us, i thought i was capable of handling anything they were going to ask. You can talk until you’re blue in the face,but if you aren’t talking about anything they are looking for, you will lose!!

The referee is Benjamin Myers out of Johnstown,Pa. I thought i had this case in the bag.

What is the procedure for a hearing at the UCBR?Will there be a hearing in Harrisburg.I heard this time it will be a panel of 3. Great, i get nervous with one, i’m going to be pissin myself with 3. ha ha. Atleast i can still find some comedy in this whole thing. When that goes, watch out.

P.S. Did i put that link in right or did you have to fix it? I used [url= [url] tags.

Mike,

No, I fixed it. I check over every submission before I approve it .. It’s alright, I appreciate someone willing to help out.

Mr Myers .. he’s actually an attorney which is not necessary to be a PA referee. I use to use a rep who was a retired PA referee. The rep I used actually made a formal complaint to the board about this guy .. The rep said he was .. well I probably shouldn’t say because it wasn’t nice at all, but he did say the guy was arrogant and didn’t know what he was doing:) You are the second person within a month who’s told me they are appealing one of his decisions. Good luck with your appeal!! Did you request the transcript? Not sure I remember PA procedure precisely, but it would be good to have it if you do go to a lawyer .. might save you a buck or two. You might also check out the law schools. Some have programs where they let students practice on you ..

Nov 16, 2009
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RE:

by: Mike

Yes, you have most of it correct.Although i am not using misclassification or overtime as a rebuttal. I don’t think i can use this court for an appeal of overtime anyway. I was just wondering if being misclassified could be used as a relevant factor. I brought this up in court and the referee was shocked when i said it. He didn’t even know what was in his file. I knew it was there because i looked at the file a week before the hearing. I think the referee’s in these cases are useless, and go by opinion rather then law. But that is just my opinion, LOL..I could almost guarantee that he had no clue what was in there and only heard testimony. His decision was based off of testimony only. He based his decision on the length of time i let the problem persist.I argue that it is irrelevent, and shows that i gave him ample time to correct the problem. I guess they could argue that it was too long, but i have not found any relevant statue of limitations regarding this.
The referee also said that i made myself unavailable for work for a lenghty period of time since i asked for a week off in February.I take a vacation every year in May. He also said that i didn’t have a vehicle to work, but the employer supplied the vehicle during that period, January to April.

I just got my appeal off today,now i have to search for a lawyer. Hopefully one that won’t soak me for all of what i am expecting to get.LOL What a racket.

Hmmmm,

If you had sought out an attorney for the lower level hearing PA would have capped the amount that could be charged for the representation at the hearing .. I believe that amount is $300.

Where in PA are you .. One of things you might do to get a list of names is actually call the referee office and ask if they can recommend somewhere to look for a good attorney.

Do you mind if I ask the name of the referee? I’m familiar with a lot of them .. One of the things that’s useful to employers is they become acquainted with how some of them operate and their tendencies and attitudes.