unemployment appeal

[nosanity4me]

MO I was denied unemployment due to an issue I had already received a warning 1/12/11 "any future failures to provide care to the current Nursing Standard of practice or failue to follow employer's policies or procedures, or attendence issues my result in termination." Any way I was fired on 1/21/11 and I was given no current reason why I was fired only that I failed to follow policies and procedures. The employer gave unemployment the reason, but I had no idea and they stated the reason as being the same issue (not a future occurance) as I was warned for on 1/12/11 not anything I had recently done the issue they cited was from 1/1/11.

Also from those who have gone through appeals are there any helpful hints what, how much, etc. to say or what not to say.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (Missouri)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[Beth3]

At the hearing, the hearing examiner will let you know when it's your turn to testify. Just state the facts surrounding your termination as you know them to be. There's no magic to it or any legal maneuvering to do. It's very straightforward.

 

[swalsh411]

Your employer will need to show evidence to support their claim of misconduct. If they refuse to elaborate on the reason you were fired or do not have any evidence to support their claim then it is unlikely that you will be disqualified for misconduct.

 

[commentator]

Okay, you have filed your claim for unemployment, right? And have you received the initial decision denying benefits? If so, exactly what did it say was the reason you were fired and were denied benefits? This is the paramount issue that will be dealt with in the hearing. Not much else.

Once you have received that denial, then you appeal at once, no comments or arguments necessary on the form, just say, "I wish to appeal this decision denying benefits." Continue to certify for the weeks that pass, even though you are not receiving unemployment right now. If you win your appeal, you will be backpaid for the weeks you have certified for.

The hearing, when you have it, will either be in person or by telephone. The appellant party has the right to request an in person hearing in most states, and I hold that it is to the advantage of the claimant to request in person hearings, you are not working anyhow, and it does make the employer a bit less likely to pursue vigorously if they have to come out, instead of just being on the phone. But anyhow, either way, as Beth said, it is a very straightforward procedure. You will present your story of exactly why you were terminated. in your understanding, what was said to you on the day you were terminated, what were the events that led up to the termination.

You will explain exactly what was said and what happened the day you were terminated. You will explain that you did not know that you had done something else, you were not aware that you had done anything in addition to the actions that you were warned about on the 12th, and that you were not given any chance to improve your performance or change your behavior before you were terminated. Emphasize that you did everything you could to try to save your job, and that you did your job to the best of your abilities.

In order to keep you from receiving benefits, the employer must show they had a good MISCONDUCT reason to terminate you, in other words, you chose to do this action or fail to do this, even though you had been warned that it could lead to your termination.

There is an assumtion that either party in the hearing may be lying. If you have proof, documentation, etc, it is good to have it.They go with who is "most believable." So be clear, factual, and all business. The hearing will be recorded, it will be done along a very strict protocol, so there will be no casual small talk. Be factual, don't be long winded, don't throw in emotional issues ("this whole event has been devastating to my mental health and my children are starving!") Just the facts. Listen closely to what the judge, referee, hearing officer tells you to do.

 

[davidmcbeth3]

MO no current reason why I was fired only that I failed to follow policies and procedures.

That is a reason duh. Maybe they talked about how you mistreated folks?

Not enough information really.

 

[commentator]

The point is, it is NOT enough information. It is certainly not enough information for them to document voluntary willful misconduct, and that is what they must do to keep this person from being approved for unemployment.

Where in the sam hill do you get "mistreated folks" from anything posted here? The person may have done that, but if so, there needs to be clear evidence that it happened, that the person was warned, and then repeated the offense, knowing he/she might be terminated.

If the employers are saying (1)failure to follow policies, or (2) failure to follow the current nursing standards or (3) attendance issues, that sounds a lot like they are trying to use the scattergun method of firing, throwing everything they can think of in there and trying to say they fired the OP for this and this and this....

That is a very bad way to terminate if you do not want the person to be approved for unemployment. They should pick one concrete issue, give warnings, document the repeated misconduct in spite of warnings, and then terminate for that specific reason alone. If they didn't do that, then the OP has a very good chance of getting approved in the appeals hearing.

 

[nosanity4me]

termination issue

On 1/1/11 a call light went off for 40 minutes, during supper, I was unaware of this until a family member who was mad came to the desk where I was and told me that "the call light had been on for 40 minutes, so I put my mom to bed" then she walked off the unit. I was given a disiplinary warning for this and one other issue which was proven by my documentation not to be true.

1/12/11 was the date that I received the warning along with the statement I already commented on about "any future" issues could result in my termination.

I was terminated on 1/21/11 with no explaination and read a generic comment not performing according to nursing home's policies and procedures. Nothing was said I signed the termination notice, clocked out at left.

The reason the employer gave to unemployment was that I "failed to answer a call light for 40 minutes resulting in extreme family and resident dissatisfaction." This is the same incident from 1/1/11 not a new issue.

Bottom line is that I did not know that the call light had been going off for 40 minutes until I was told by the family member. I was in the dining room for most of that time and was back at the desk only a short time when approached by a very agry family member.

 

[nosanity4me]

exact reason given for denial of unemployment benefits

Determination: The claimant is disqualified from 1/23/11 because the claimant was discharged by the employer on 01/22/11 for misconduct connected with work.

Reason: The claimant was discharged beacause a resident's family complained that she did not respond to call light for 40 minutes. Responding to call lights were part of her normal duties.

 

[Beth3]

Who was supposed to be monitoring the call light while you were in the dining room? Or was the unit left unattended while you took a break? (Which I can only guess is a violation of some required standard of care.)

 

[swalsh411]

Given what you have said, and assuming you are not leaving anything important out, I think your chances are pretty good that you will prevail on appeal.

Since were written up for an incident and then terminated 10 days later for the same incident, the employer cannot very easily make a case for misconduct. If your failure to respond to this light was so egregious that it constitutes misconduct then they should have fired you on the spot. The fact that they let you continue working for over a week after warning you is good evidence that what you did does not rise to that level.

Secondly, why did you not know the light had gone off? Were you supposed to be somewhere else? Were you on dinner break? Was somebody supposed to tell you that it was on and they failed to do so?

 

[nosanity4me]

call light ossue

Most of the time the call light was going off I was in the dining room helping feed the residents. I was at the nurse's desk for about ten minutes when the family member approached me angry and told me she had put her mother to bed herself and she had been waiting 40 minutes.

 

[swalsh411]

So the family member claimed she had waited 40 minutes? If these proof of this? Did your employer just take the family member's word for it without attempting to verify? If so your chances of winning the appeal are even better.

It would be one thing if you took an unauthorized smoke break and something bad happened which you could have prevented if you had been doing your duty. But it sounds like you were helping residents in the dining room (which I presume is part of your job) and something happened somewhere else that required your attention but you were doing other things. You can't be in two places at the same time, and there should have been other staff available to assist.

Based on what you have provided I think your chances of winning the appeal are very good.

 

[commentator]

I concur. It appears they just wanted to get rid of you, had no real on going misconduct, or "gross" misconduct to hang the termination on. Provided they have absolutely no proof of further misconduct and even better that they referred back to the previous incident at the time you were terminated.

But it will be up to them to provide proof. You bring up the circumstances, emphasize that you were on duty and that this could be verified by the other people in the dining room during this time, and that this activity was also part of your job assignment, that you had had no prior incidents or problems (if this is true) and that you did not re-offend at the later date before you were actually terminated.

Good luck to you. Remember to certify for each week that passes, to be polite and professional and on point during the hearing, to listen closely to what the hearing officer says, asks and tells you do to.