by jeena
(Bronx, NY, USA)
I live in NY and was laid off in July 2011 from a job in NY which I had for 12 years due to the company’s financial difficulties. I never made an unemployment claim for that job because a few weeks later I accepted a job with another company in NY. In November 2011, after 4.5 months of work, the second company laid me off due to poor performance because I wasn’t trained on all the company software, so I couldn’t produce the volume of work which was required. Did I stay at my second job long enough to try and collect unemployment benefits from them? If so, can they try to deny me unemployment benefits by requesting a hearing and stop me from collecting unemployment from them? Would trying to get unemployment benefits from my first job lay off in July be affected in any way by what happens to my unemployment claim on my second job?
I have answered this question many times and in many forms and yes, subsequent employment does have an effect on unemployment benefits because the most recent work is always looked at to see if the separation facts are qualifying.
So, you used the term laid off for poor performance and that is troubling to me.
Being laid off and being fired are not .. interchangeable terms although both are the result of the employer being the one to end the employment .. a layoff is due to a “lack of work” where being discharged or fired must be for misconduct to stop benefits.
I mention this only because of the number of questions I don’t answer here on the website from people who thought no one would be the wiser if they reported when filing a claim laid off instead of discharge only to find out .. unemployment claims are all relative to unemployment taxes paid by employers .. therefore of course they are informed every time someone files.
But, because you were laid off for a lack of work from your former job .. there should be no eligibility issue or disqualification to purge from that separation ..
But this current separation is a different story and can keep you from collecting any benefits you might have a right to because subsequesnt employment (the most recent work) and the circumstances control a claim, whether that employer is the one paying for the benefits or not.
So, here’s the issues.
1. Did the claimant voluntarily quit with or without good cause? This isn’t relevant to you
2. Was the claimant discharged for willful misconduct. This is your issue.
Poor performance is a catchall phrase for a whole lot of behaviors an employer doesn’t care for and always seem to protest as misconduct .. in a blanket sort of way.
But inability is not misconduct .. but if they succeed in proving that poor performance is due to the employees carelessness, negligence, laziness, or any other personal attitude we assume responsible people can exert control over that’s basically .. misconduct of the willful type.
So, you need to get ready for the investigation.
NY interprets the burden to prove work related misconduct.
Chris