by Anonymous
(Yonkers, NY)
Hi, thanks for trying to answer my question.
Specific Background:
I was let go from a job from NYC 12/22/11. I currently live in Yonkers.
In 06/09 I opened a claim in NJ and I resided in NJ . I collected checks but then I got a job in CT and commuted from Yonkers. I left the job after a year or so because I had a very old car that was continually breaking down and my salary was very little. It didn’t make sense to commute to jeopardize my safety and well being, as well as not making enough money to cover my expenses.
My open claim in NJ still has a substantial remaining balance.
After I got let go from my last job in NYC, I immediately called the NJ Unemployment and spoke with an agent that suggested it would be better to file a claim in CT instead of NY because CT offers more money than NY.
She started the proceedings, asked a # of questions and said I should go online to set up my specific checking acct info to get direct deposit put in place. She also told me she will send me the proper paperwork to fill out for a hearing ect. She told me in the meanwhile, I should claim my weekly benefits until I hear something back and hopefully favor the decision to grant my current unemployment.
Specific Questions:
Not really sure why I could not reopen my claim in NJ? I still have an outstanding balance?
Maybe it was because I donot still live in NJ or maybe because my last two jobs were in two other states.
I am concerned that my job in CT I initially said that I got fired but now thinking back it was because of my transportation problem and my poor compensation and it didn’t make sense to work for so little and jeopardize my safety. My last job that I just lost I was definitely let go. They never gave me any specific reason and no notice.
Last question is do I have to contact the NY employment as well? Do I have to open another claim with the NY office?
I really need the benefits and I am very concerned that this new open claim was not the proper or the best way to
Hi,
I think you’re right.
First, I removed your name .. not a good idea to attach a real name to questions here.
Second, if you have an open NJ claim with a balance it’s got to be for extension benefits and if you have had subsequent qualifying wages since then (I’ve assumed you have) you have to collect and exhaust those regular type benefits before you can revert to any extension balance.
However, it seems totally odd to me, that with all your subsequent jobs .. that the NJ claim is still open in 12/11 as every claim has some action taken on it at the end of the benefit year .. which in my estimation would have been 6/2010 and then again 6/2011 if you collected after it was renewed in 2010.
The NJ claim with a large balance remaining, just doesn’t make sense to me as being viable now.
Third, if I were you .. I’d be nervous about that CT claim because you misrepresented the reason for separation.
What you did sounds like fraud to me, as I find it hard to believe that anyone wouldn’t remember why they left a job willingly, so short a time ago vs. telling a state the truth .. that they were fired.
If this sounds odd to me with so little info to go on .. you can bet it will sound odd to an adjudicator or hearing officer once they get the lo down from the employer you quit due to transportation problems.
Fourth, I’d have filed the claim in NY .. higher WBA be damned, since that’s where the last work was and there is potential for a combined wage claim that the earnings from the NY job may purge the VQ from the CT job.
But now, with that open CT claim .. I think you’re exposed to a fraud finding on a separation you failed to recall accurately.
I myself would be nervous to appeal a denial in CT because you’re operating from not one, but two positions of weakness. A VQ without good cause and a potential for a fraud finding now or worse, in the future.
Fifth, I don’t know why you were let go from your last job .. but at least a NY claim would have been like a clean slate .. and it may still be if the CT claim dies a quiet death.
The only thing out of control here .. is human tendency to muck up what could (and might still) work out just fine .. maybe .. depending on the circumstances surrounding the last separation from work.
The separation from the most recent work controls the claim, but even when that separation is qualifying .. jobs we’ve had within the base period attached to all claims .. are also important in that they may carry disqualifications.
Try to close the CT claim and start fresh with NY. It’s very possible that the earnings from the NY job may have already purged any DQ from the VQ in CT .. which would make it a moot point for collecting .. better to lose a bit of wage credits which would lower your WBA than the whole shebang because you misreported how a separation occurred.