Unemployment Benefits Revoked!

[despinoza4038]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas

Hi everyone,

Today I received a call from Texas workforce commission(TWC), the people that handle unemployment benefits in Texas. The lady interrogated me with a bunch of questions which I was not surprised since I know they do want to make sure you aren't lying to get these benefits. At the end of this phone interview, she told me I did not qualify for benefits because my employer said I quit. This job was a paid summer internship. I signed a contract that it was a temporary job from this date to this date. I finished the internship and performed great. About a month later, my employer called me and offered me a second internship for the next summer but I kindly denied due to me accepting an internship with another company. I didn't tell them I accepted another job, I lied to them and told them I was going to take summer classes in college so I could not work. Apparently me not accepting their next summer job offer made them upset, and put on file that I "voluntarily resigned to go back to school" which is what they told TWC when they were investigating if I quit or got fired, and TWC took it as I quit. This is a big misunderstanding. I did not quit, I simply finish my term and did not want to go back to them. I now got told that I don't qualify but I will be appealing and will be given a date for a "hearing". I don't see how me finishing my term/contract is consider quitting, shouldn't that be consider a laidoff because the company simply didnt have any work left for me since they only offer work in the summers, in other words a summer internship?!
So I was very upset that TWC told me that my employer claimed I quit, which I should mention is a really big international chemical plant, so its not like a local business or something. I called their HR department and started asking questions regarding me quitting and she confirmed to me that I quit??????????? I was so confused so I started explaining to the lady and is like if the lady was trying super hard to connect the dots to me quiting but nothing made sense. She was just basically not wanting to admit the fact I did not quit. Im sure shes just doing her job and backing up the company decision. I then decided to call my supervisor and my recruiter and they both are ignoring my calls/emails. Im starting to get the feeling that they all know that im basically getting screwed up and were told to not respond to me if I tried to contact them. That just an assumption though.
what should i do? I have this hearing, how should I go about it?
Am I just wrong and an internship ended is quitting? Doesnt make sense but I may be wrong
I googled can I receive unemployment of an internship and everywhere it says yes if its paid, which it was.

Thank you everyone in advance!

 

[CTU]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas

Hi everyone,

Today I received a call from Texas workforce commission(TWC), the people that handle unemployment benefits in Texas. The lady interrogated me with a bunch of questions which I was not surprised since I know they do want to make sure you aren't lying to get these benefits. At the end of this phone interview, she told me I did not qualify for benefits because my employer said I quit. This job was a paid summer internship. I signed a contract that it was a temporary job from this date to this date. I finished the internship and performed great. About a month later, my employer called me and offered me a second internship for the next summer but I kindly denied due to me accepting an internship with another company. I didn't tell them I accepted another job, I lied to them and told them I was going to take summer classes in college so I could not work. Apparently me not accepting their next summer job offer made them upset, and put on file that I "voluntarily resigned to go back to school" which is what they told TWC when they were investigating if I quit or got fired, and TWC took it as I quit. This is a big misunderstanding. I did not quit, I simply finish my term and did not want to go back to them. I now got told that I don't qualify but I will be appealing and will be given a date for a "hearing". I don't see how me finishing my term/contract is consider quitting, shouldn't that be consider a laidoff because the company simply didnt have any work left for me since they only offer work in the summers, in other words a summer internship?!
So I was very upset that TWC told me that my employer claimed I quit, which I should mention is a really big international chemical plant, so its not like a local business or something. I called their HR department and started asking questions regarding me quitting and she confirmed to me that I quit??????????? I was so confused so I started explaining to the lady and is like if the lady was trying super hard to connect the dots to me quiting but nothing made sense. She was just basically not wanting to admit the fact I did not quit. Im sure shes just doing her job and backing up the company decision. I then decided to call my supervisor and my recruiter and they both are ignoring my calls/emails. Im starting to get the feeling that they all know that im basically getting screwed up and were told to not respond to me if I tried to contact them. That just an assumption though.
what should i do? I have this hearing, how should I go about it?
Am I just wrong and an internship ended is quitting? Doesnt make sense but I may be wrong
I googled can I receive unemployment of an internship and everywhere it says yes if its paid, which it was.

Thank you everyone in advance!

You told them you couldn't work because you were going back to school. Sounds like that's what they told the UI people. Is that not accurate per your own words?

 

[despinoza4038]

You told them you couldn't work because you were going back to school. Sounds like that's what they told the UI people. Is that not accurate per your own words?

That's what I told them, yes. However the job they offered me was a year apart.
Don't what UI want to know is if I quit or got fired on the job I am claiming unemployment? If so, I did not quit. Or is the contract we had ending consider quitting?

 

[cbg]

It's not quite as simple as all that. Even though the work that was available to you was not immediate, you DID turn down work. You DID indicate that you would not be available for work if offered. As you've just learned, those can be benefit-killers.

Shame you didn't tell the truth.

 

[eerelations]

UI benefits are for people who are actively seeking and available for work. Going to school means you're not actively seeking and available for work. Ergo, you are not entitled to UI benefits.

 

[FlyingRon]

So what happened to the second internship?

 

[commentator]

It's a little confusing to see where you are in this process. Let's see. your internship ended. You filed a claim for benefits, right? You had monetary eligibility, and you have been doing the weekly certifications, have you been receiving weekly checks? You're in school right now, right?

Okay, so at some point, AFTER (?) you began receiving checks, got initial approval to receive unemployment benefits, you get this call from this person from the unemployment commission, and she tells you your claim is revoked (?) Not quite the way it happens, but anyhow, we're trying here. Okay, you completed the internship, you left the company under good circumstances, they said, "Well, Friday is your last day, gladhands, yada yada" and you left on Friday, as had been agreed upon when you accepted the internship. you had paperwork, somewhere, stating that your job would last from xxxx to xxxx, didn't you?

So the claim that you quit before it ended should be extremely easy to disprove. If that is what they're saying, they're silly. Incidentally, it's not your place to call them up and attempt to get the matter straightened out with them, with their HR person or whomever. This needs to be worked out through the unemployment system at this point.

Okay, from my reading, you were already gone, had worked your last day with them, had already filed for benefits (?) and then you get a call from them, asking you to come back NEXT SUMMER for another internship. You tell them no, I'm going to be in school next summer taking classes, because you really just think you have a better company and you want to intern with them, not the company you were with this last summer. Right?

And then you get a call from the TWC, in which the lady arbitrarily tells you your claim is revoked. Well, at some point, you should be receiving a formal decision, telling you that your claim is suspended for xxxx reason, and you should in this decision receive a notice of your right to appeal this decision. IS THIS WHAT YOU HAVE GOTTEN? What you do when you get this is appeal the decision to deny benefits and request an appeals hearing.

But it is sounding to me more like this you got may have been a call from an ajudicator, and what the hearing she is referring to is a "fact finding" which will be done before any formal termination of benefits.

Either way, you need to continue to make your regular weekly certifications for weeks as they pass. If you are ever approved for benefits after all this dust has settled, you will be back paid only for weeks that you have certified for.

Employers do not like for former workers to draw unemployment benefits from them. It costs the company money. If they were the only ones who got to participate in the decision making for who gets benefits, no one would ever get them. The agency considers what the employer says is the reason you left the job and they consider what you say is the reason you left the job. That you left at the point you were scheduled to leave, that your internship ended, and they had no more work for you to do at that time should be very easy for you to show.

Now, about offering you a job several months out in the future. A person is able to draw benefits during any week in which the company has no work for them RIGHT NOW. Whether or not you would return to them at some point in the future IF they had a job for you should not disqualify you for benefits right now if you are willing to work all the hours the company has for you right now, this week.

You really could've been a lot more diplomatic, shouldn't have shut the doors on their future job offer, but at the same time, this isn't exactly a formal offer of immediate work. For all they know, their company could be out of business in ten or twelve months, you could've died or moved or have health issues. Or you could've found a better job. There's no way they can bind you to a job next summer right now. Perhaps you could've been a bit more tactful, could've left the door open without formally accepting or refusing the future job. But really, if this is what they're trying to do, cut off your benefits NOW because you refused a job offer for a potential job next summer, it shouldn't happen.

The major reason people coming off internships with companies don't draw unemployment benefits has much less to do with the reason they left the job (most of these things are finite, they have a projected beginning and ending date.) But it's the issue of availability for work after the job ends. If you left the internship and went back to school, there is a question of whether or not you are eligible to draw unemployment benefits based on your being in school full time. You must work that out with the unemployment system. They'll take a statement from you on this issue and make what they call a school decision. Most people who are in school full time are not eligible for unemployment benefits because they have removed themselves from the labor market. It must be decided on case by case in individual circumstances.

Let us know exactly where you are with this. Have you received an initial decision approving benefits, and now they have been stopped for investigation? That's what I'd suspect. As I said, do not try to work this out with the company. Have your paperwork showing where and when and what all about the internship, state clearly and concisely that you worked up until the last day you had agreed to work and left with their full agreement. You did not quit the job, have not quit the job and were put out of the job through no fault of your own.

You must also be able, available and actively seeking equivalent work. Next summer you can always tell any company you've applied with no thank you, but until it is actually offered to you, with a specific beginning date, you do not need to refuse it and report it to the unemployment system. If the unemployment system says you have failed to report a legitimate job offer to them, say that you did not realize that a job offer for a time so far in the future was something you needed to report right now, but go through it with them and get it worked out now.

 

[despinoza4038]

It's a little confusing to see where you are in this process. Let's see. your internship ended. You filed a claim for benefits, right? You had monetary eligibility, and you have been doing the weekly certifications, have you been receiving weekly checks? You're in school right now, right?

Okay, so at some point, AFTER (?) you began receiving checks, got initial approval to receive unemployment benefits, you get this call from this person from the unemployment commission, and she tells you your claim is revoked (?) Not quite the way it happens, but anyhow, we're trying here. Okay, you completed the internship, you left the company under good circumstances, they said, "Well, Friday is your last day, gladhands, yada yada" and you left on Friday, as had been agreed upon when you accepted the internship. you had paperwork, somewhere, stating that your job would last from xxxx to xxxx, didn't you?

So the claim that you quit before it ended should be extremely easy to disprove. If that is what they're saying, they're silly. Incidentally, it's not your place to call them up and attempt to get the matter straightened out with them, with their HR person or whomever. This needs to be worked out through the unemployment system at this point.

Okay, from my reading, you were already gone, had worked your last day with them, had already filed for benefits (?) and then you get a call from them, asking you to come back NEXT SUMMER for another internship. You tell them no, I'm going to be in school next summer taking classes, because you really just think you have a better company and you want to intern with them, not the company you were with this last summer. Right?

And then you get a call from the TWC, in which the lady arbitrarily tells you your claim is revoked. Well, at some point, you should be receiving a formal decision, telling you that your claim is suspended for xxxx reason, and you should in this decision receive a notice of your right to appeal this decision. IS THIS WHAT YOU HAVE GOTTEN? What you do when you get this is appeal the decision to deny benefits and request an appeals hearing.

But it is sounding to me more like this you got may have been a call from an ajudicator, and what the hearing she is referring to is a "fact finding" which will be done before any formal termination of benefits.

Either way, you need to continue to make your regular weekly certifications for weeks as they pass. If you are ever approved for benefits after all this dust has settled, you will be back paid only for weeks that you have certified for.

Employers do not like for former workers to draw unemployment benefits from them. It costs the company money. If they were the only ones who got to participate in the decision making for who gets benefits, no one would ever get them. The agency considers what the employer says is the reason you left the job and they consider what you say is the reason you left the job. That you left at the point you were scheduled to leave, that your internship ended, and they had no more work for you to do at that time should be very easy for you to show.

Now, about offering you a job several months out in the future. A person is able to draw benefits during any week in which the company has no work for them RIGHT NOW. Whether or not you would return to them at some point in the future IF they had a job for you should not disqualify you for benefits right now if you are willing to work all the hours the company has for you right now, this week.

You really could've been a lot more diplomatic, shouldn't have shut the doors on their future job offer, but at the same time, this isn't exactly a formal offer of immediate work. For all they know, their company could be out of business in ten or twelve months, you could've died or moved or have health issues. Or you could've found a better job. There's no way they can bind you to a job next summer right now. Perhaps you could've been a bit more tactful, could've left the door open without formally accepting or refusing the future job. But really, if this is what they're trying to do, cut off your benefits NOW because you refused a job offer for a potential job next summer, it shouldn't happen.

The major reason people coming off internships with companies don't draw unemployment benefits has much less to do with the reason they left the job (most of these things are finite, they have a projected beginning and ending date.) But it's the issue of availability for work after the job ends. If you left the internship and went back to school, there is a question of whether or not you are eligible to draw unemployment benefits based on your being in school full time. You must work that out with the unemployment system. They'll take a statement from you on this issue and make what they call a school decision. Most people who are in school full time are not eligible for unemployment benefits because they have removed themselves from the labor market. It must be decided on case by case in individual circumstances.

Let us know exactly where you are with this. Have you received an initial decision approving benefits, and now they have been stopped for investigation? That's what I'd suspect. As I said, do not try to work this out with the company. Have your paperwork showing where and when and what all about the internship, state clearly and concisely that you worked up until the last day you had agreed to work and left with their full agreement. You did not quit the job, have not quit the job and were put out of the job through no fault of your own.

You must also be able, available and actively seeking equivalent work. Next summer you can always tell any company you've applied with no thank you, but until it is actually offered to you, with a specific beginning date, you do not need to refuse it and report it to the unemployment system. If the unemployment system says you have failed to report a legitimate job offer to them, say that you did not realize that a job offer for a time so far in the future was something you needed to report right now, but go through it with them and get it worked out now.

Thanks for your great reply. As of right now, I have received a letter telling me why I am not eligible for UI. It says that on it that they found out I quit. I appealed because I think this is a misunderstanding from TWC point of view. I am not sure what went down when my employer and TWC talked, but on this hearing that will be given to me, I will make sure I express how everything truly happened. Now if an internship ended is considering quitting, which blows my mind, then so be it. But I dont agree with that, I believe it falls more under being laid off.
I don't have a paper that says I work from this day to this day, but I do have an email that my recruiter send me offering me the second internship that I declined. That should show that I ended my internship in good terms right, without quitting correct? I declined that internship because I had already accepted an internship with a different company that I like much more. I work with them previously as well so I was able to compare both companies and decide who I want.
As of right now, I need to pay for my school this semester and I am looking for a full time job, and was hoping I get UI till i find a job. I find it very unfair that they are trying to claim I quit while its obvious I finished my term with them in good terms. They have signing off documents that I don't have where it states this is my last day bla bla bla. Also I want to mention that I think this is consider laid off for one big reason. I wanted to work with them while attending school. My father and mother don't work as my dad is injured and my mom is a housewife. I wanted to work past my internship end date. However, I did not get offered extended work because they only offer summer internships, isnt that consider lack of work, in other words a laid off?

 

[despinoza4038]

It's not quite as simple as all that. Even though the work that was available to you was not immediate, you DID turn down work. You DID indicate that you would not be available for work if offered. As you've just learned, those can be benefit-killers.

Shame you didn't tell the truth.

You have to be kidding me. I did turn down work because I have another job that pays me way better with a better company. Even if I had accepted, I AM UNEMPLOYED till that jobs starts. Also, where did i said i indicate that i would not be available if work is offered.

 

[CTU]

You have to be kidding me. I did turn down work because I have another job that pays me way better with a better company. Even if I had accepted, I AM UNEMPLOYED till that jobs starts. Also, where did i said i indicate that i would not be available if work is offered.

I didn't tell them I accepted another job, I lied to them and told them I was going to take summer classes in college so I could not work

Hope that helps.

 

[despinoza4038]

Hope that helps.

yeah buddy, a job that was next year. Where is the work available right now? There is none, I didn't accept their job because I had already accepted another job. I should have simply kept the door open just like someone suggested.

 

[not2cleverRed]

You have to be kidding me. I did turn down work because I have another job that pays me way better with a better company. Even if I had accepted, I AM UNEMPLOYED till that jobs starts. Also, where did i said i indicate that i would not be available if work is offered.

This means that you are currently unavailable for a full time permanent job.

Your internship was what, 3 months?

Would you have been hired for the internship if you were not a full time student during the academic year?

 

[Chyvan]

I AM UNEMPLOYED till that jobs starts.

Sort of, but does school render you not "able and available." UI is very suspect of the full-time student with classes during the hours of 8 am and 5 pm Monday through Friday saying they're "available."

If it weren't for school, could you have kept working as an intern? Was there continuing work available for you?

You may not have "quit," but there's enough other pieces here working against you that if you want UI, you need to figure out the right answers so that you get your benefits.

 

[despinoza4038]

This means that you are currently unavailable for a full time permanent job.

Your internship was what, 3 months?

Would you have been hired for the internship if you were not a full time student during the academic year?

I don't see your point. I know people just like me who go to school full time and are hired in a full time job or looking for a full time job.

 

[despinoza4038]

Sort of, but does school render you not "able and available." UI is very suspect of the full-time student with classes during the hours of 8 am and 5 pm Monday through Friday saying they're "available."

If it weren't for school, could you have kept working as an intern? Was there continuing work available for you?

You may not have "quit," but there's enough other pieces here working against you that if you want UI, you need to figure out the right answers so that you get your benefits.

I am taking online classes, and I am available between 8 and 5. There was no work available for me, I asked to be kept during the fall and was told I couldn't work passed end date. I was laid off.