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Worked 1 week, then let go . . Unemployment benefits terminated?

by Tracy

(Stuart, Florida, USA)

I have been receiving unemployment since April of 2011. I was offered a position in November that I accepted, worked one week, and then was terminated because the manager was committing fraud and the company said “because of the mess the company is in, they don’t have time to train me.” Now, the Florida Unemployment office says that I am ineligible for benefits because I worked that week. Is this legal?? I would love to still have the job, but I only worked for one week and was let go through no fault of mine. I’m still looking for employment, but I need to feed my family.

Hi Tracy,

Can you be more specific about the reason Florida gave you for the denying you to start receiving of benefits again?

Given the length of time since April, I’ve also assumed you were already collecting extension benefits.

Does the determination say it’s because you were discharged for misconduct connected with the work or was this a monetary determination which said the wages aren’t sufficient (which by the way makes no sense because you are reopening a claim which most likely has a balance of benefits left on it .. but it’s FL .. so I have to ask).

Comments for Worked 1 week, then let go . . Unemployment benefits terminated?

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Nov 30, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar		 The same thing happened to me

by: DS


Hi Tracy,

I live in FL too and I had been on unemployment for almost one year when I got a job. I worked at the job for 4 days and was fired for poor performance. So I filed to reopen my existing claim and had to go through an “investigation” that took about 1.5 months to complete at which time I was first given a letter of denial because they tried to open a new claim but I hadn’t earned enough money. Then, because I worked for a college that qualified as a school for which there is some kind of special paperwork, then there was someone else on my claim (by mistake) and that had to be cleared finally, finally, I was reinstated on my previous claim but only after I called the attorney generals office to complain about the agonizing inefficiency of the process here. I used to call the unemployment office at least three times a week during the process because 2 out of 3 times the people at the other end of the line do not know what they are talking about, for example I was told by one person to wait patiently because my check was on its way but when I called back I found out that no check had been issued because I had entered a new benefit year and had to be cleared first which involved some kind of paperwork that had not been done yet. If I hadn’t of called back and got somebody who knew what was going on I would still be waiting. My advice is to stay informed and keep tabs on what is going on with your case. Also keep asking Chris questions to help yourself if you have any doubts about anything. Btw, I learned that you can get the number of the investigator who is working on your case if you ask the right person. Everytime you call about your case ask for the investigators name and number and call him/her directly. I did and he pulled my file out and told me what was going on. Good Luck with everything. Yes I was reinstated.

DS

Nov 30, 2011
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by: Tracy


They haven’t given any reason for the denial, basically I called and they told me that I was uneligible because I worked for the week. I went ahead and tried to refile and the computer said that I could claim weeks on 11/28/11, which I did, and payment should have been direct deposited today, but it wasn’t. I called, and they said that the claim is being investigated and I should get a letter with the results by 12/21/11, and if I don’t receive the letter to call them back. The computer says that I have over $1500 left in benefits.

Okay then, they are investigating whether the discharge was for misconduct or not .. just keep filing for each week and wait for that determination. My point is .. you have to wait on the state of FL to issue that determination first before you can start receiving benefits or appeal if they find the discharge was for misconduct .. and that’s not something I would put past what they’ve done to people in FL in the past.

They also tend to make folks wait for interminable lengths of time before they issue determinations ..

Let’s hope they’ve finally got their administrative act together though.

Chris