Unemployment Compensation Hearing

AnaFL

I am fairly new in my position as hr mgr at my company, so this will be my first hearing, and although I do know more or less what types of supporting documentation I need to take to the hearing, I would feel much better obtaining any tips that any of you more seasoned hr professionals out there may have for me...

This was a long term employee (11 years) who was out on a long workers compensation leave (repeated hernia surgeries), for approximately a year, but he was released to return to work, restricted duty, about 4 months after his surgery, but because we had had a large layoff whereby we let about half of our staff go, we did not have any light duty positions available, so he continued to be out on w. comp and they of course continued to pay him. Finally he agreed to settle his case and his date of final settlement, where he signed the usual voluntary resignation letter, was December 19, 2002.

He then when to the u. comp office and claimed for unemployment. They sent me a form, and I replied that he voluntarily quit by accepting a w. comp settlement, and I added the above information about the lack of light duty etc. so that they would make a fair determination. He appealed, hence my hearing on Friday!

Besides taking the signed agreement, and any other supporting w. comp docs showing that it was voluntary (and the w. comp judge would never sign off on any case unless it was totally agreed upon by the employee), what else should I take? I just want to do what's fair for everyone of course.....

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Ana

Gar

What else should you take? Your legal counsel. Here in NC, Employment Security Commission hearings are adversarial in nature. It's like going to court. It seems you have everything you need documentation-wise but, since this is your first time doing this, you should notify your unemployment board that you're bringing an attorney.

Don D

>I am fairly new in my position as hr mgr at my company, so this will
>be my first hearing, and although I do know more or less what types of
>supporting documentation I need to take to the hearing, I would feel
>much better obtaining any tips that any of you more seasoned hr
>professionals out there may have for me...
>
>This was a long term employee (11 years) who was out on a long workers
>compensation leave (repeated hernia surgeries), for approximately a
>year, but he was released to return to work, restricted duty, about 4
>months after his surgery, but because we had had a large layoff
>whereby we let about half of our staff go, we did not have any light
>duty positions available, so he continued to be out on w. comp and
>they of course continued to pay him. Finally he agreed to settle his
>case and his date of final settlement, where he signed the usual
>voluntary resignation letter, was December 19, 2002.
>
>He then when to the u. comp office and claimed for unemployment. They
>sent me a form, and I replied that he voluntarily quit by accepting a
>w. comp settlement, and I added the above information about the lack
>of light duty etc. so that they would make a fair determination. He
>appealed, hence my hearing on Friday!
>
>Besides taking the signed agreement, and any other supporting w. comp
>docs showing that it was voluntary (and the w. comp judge would never
>sign off on any case unless it was totally agreed upon by the
>employee), what else should I take? I just want to do what's fair for
>everyone of course.....
>
>Thanks in advance for any tips.
>
>Ana

Don D

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 03-13-02 AT 02:48PM (CST)[/font][p]I know this is way too late, since you've already had your hearing. I worked for the Employment Security system for 25 years and have since then dealt with UI claims in most of the 50 states, due to the nature of my HR positions. My best advice to a person in your situation is to not hesitate to pick up the phone and call the Appeals Department. Simply tell them you are fairly new in your position and you have a hearing scheduled. Ask them to give you some tips on generally what types of information you should bring with you. Different states have you jump through different hoops at the hearings. They're not going to discuss the particular documents needed in your particular case, but, they will be glad to advise you on how you can make the process work better. When in a real tight jam and not much time to prepare, never hesitate to just take the entire file with you. That way, anything the referee or administrative law judge asks for, you should be able to find in the file. He has to allow you time to search the file for whatever he asks for. As far as what you as employer rep need to take for your presentation, you covered those documents pretty well. Your state law, if similar to ours, will hinge on "Who initiated the separation?" Not necessarily that he resigned, but did the employer coerce him into resigning or ask him to in return for a cash payout? You might have lost this case if your company actually initiated the separation.

AnaFL

Don

Thanks for your response anyway. I did go, along with a manager, and I did actually what you suggest here. I took his whole file with me, along with the other documents relating to the separation that I mentioned before. The hearing went very well as we simply presented all the facts, with documentation to back those facts up, nothing more, nothing less. The referee must have made his decision pretty quickly as we received the written decision within a day or so. We won.

Thanks again for everyone's input. This website is the very best thing to happen to me personally, as a relatively new hr manager with little experience, and I appreciate it greatly!!

Ana

WOCO Frank

Don's advice was right on target. In many cases, a government office (whether federal or state) is more than willing to help employers with the process. I've called and received valuable advice from government employees on work comp, unemployment, Wage & Hour, and EEOC issues. All I have to do is admit my ignorance, ask politely for guidance, and thank them afterwards. It works.