by Keith Saunders
(Nevada)
Consulting with Employees and Employers in over 40 States, in over 10,000 Hearings I have advised clients, so they are prepared for the unemployment process, most people are unfamiliar with.
In order for you to be initially approved to receive Unemployment benefits, you must first receive a Favorable Determination by the Unemployment Department in your State.
There is a Burden of Proof in a Termination and Voluntary Quit
The State will make its initial Determination, based on the Revised Statute and Precedent Rulings. The process in obtaining a Favorable determination from the State Unemployment Office will weight heavily on what the former Employee Claimant and Employer reports to the department, as well as what documentation may have been prepared in advance to help a claim adjudicator initially rule in either’s favor.
Timing and Preparation is Critical to the Unemployment Claim Determination Process
There is a short period of time from filing for benefits, until your Notice Of Determination & Ruling is issued, to you and the employer.
Most people are not prepared for the speed of of the process to issue an initial notice of determination about the cause for separation and so can be caught off guard by how unemployment works.
This is why it may be important to an employee, or employer to have an expert in unemployment to advise with preparations for the end result, which is often an Unemployment Appeal Hearing.
Most Major Corporations have the assistance of ADP and Equifax as Hearing Consultants to helps employers their direct witnesses and testimony as one way to insure you may be denied unemployment benefits.
For employees facing the prospect of being able to successfully maneuver through the unemployment process it can be intimidating to say the least.
After the Notice of Determination & Ruling has been issued, the Claimant and Employer have to right to file an Appeal
If you are denied, or allowed to collect benefits there is a limited amount of time, to file for an unemployment appeal hearing, to avoid an appeal being considered late and untimely.
When an appeal is filed late your case may not be heard by an Administrative Law Judge, if you cannot meet Good Cause for a late appeal issue.
The Notice of Determination Tells You Why Employers Appeal
When a Claimant is initially ruled eligible for benefits, the determination also states whether the employer’s unemployment tax account will be subjected to being charged for the benefits paid.
Because the Notice of Determination is reached by a fact Finding process based on gathering the available information about the cause for separation, claimants are also caught off guard when the employer appeals the determination to have an appeal hearing.
You only have one shot to make sure you get things right at this hearing.
If you do not present the facts properly at a hearing the first time, you cannot redo the process.
It is very important to seek advise to make sure youâre laying the ground work, in case there is an appeal hearing, which will be the next tip I offer in a series of unemployment tips.
To summarize, I know why and how you should prepare to win benefits with the notice of determination, based on facts that cause you to be fired without good cause, or to quit with good cause, but you also need to know why and how because you may still need to appeal, or the employer may appeal.
Keith