In between jobs

[MARKER1000]

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

 

[mlane58]

Ok, hope you enjoy the time off.

 

[MARKER1000]

HELLO I AM IN THE MIDDLE OF AN ISSUE MY CURRENT EMPLOYER JUST LOST THERE CONTRACT TO ANOTHER EMPLOYER WHO IS COMING IN AT THE END OF THIS MONTH THEY HAVE SIAD THAT THEY WOULD BE HIRING U S ON BUT IM NOT SURE What they are doing yet if they come in and cut my hours and pay can i refuse the new job and still get unemployment

 

[pattytx]

If you refuse the job with the new company, don't count on UI. Why do you think they would be cutting hours/pay?

 

[commentator]

I gather you are still working, up until the end of the month, for the old company. Because if they had to lay you off between times, you'd certainly sign up for your unemployment for these weeks between. But when you get the particulars of the new job, in other words, at the point that the old employer lets you go, and the new employer is standing there offering you the job...if it is less money, and maybe less hours, you are going to have to make a big whopping decision. You will be officially separated from your old company. You will have to make a conscious sign up to the new job, you'll have to fill out something. At that point, you should either take it, or refuse it. You'd go and file for benefits and your separating employer would be the old job. You were laid off due to lack of work because they lost the contract.

And then, there would be the adjudication issue of the fact that you were offered the new job, and the employer would have to have given you the job offer, with the specifics of how much it paid, and how many hours a week, and you would have had to turn them down.

And then the decision is going to be made whether you have refused an appropriate job offer. Key word here is appropriate. Similar to what you had in duties, check, same location, check, salary and hours???? It's a sure thing that you will be approved for benefits because of being laid off from your old company, but as to whether your claim will be stopped because you have refused the new company's job offer, it is very hard to say, and if I were to say, I'd probably say, yes, claim would be stopped.

Because in this day and time and place, unless there's one heck of a pay cut involved, you're going to still be making lots more money working than you could make drawing unemployment if approved. It's in the same location, doing the same things, and in this economy what are your chances of finding another job to replace this one with, even at the reduced pay?

Sad to say, there's not much negotiation room for employees in this job market. If they offer you less money, say, from $13 an hour to $10 an hour, same number of hours a week, you might refuse the job and get to draw benefits. But then again, you might not. It's too close to call. And then you'd have nothing, neither the new job OR the benefits. Now if you were working 40 hours a week, with benefits and making $13 an hour, and the new company wants to give you 32 hours a week at $9 an hour with no benefits, you would have a much better chance of getting approved to draw. But then, you'd have no job, much less money a week, and no new job to go to for sure. You just have to make that decision without having a sure fire certainty either way.

There is no formula, say "if the new job pays 20% less than the old job", but I'd say that's a pretty fair guideline. And even then, it's not absolutely sure you'd be approved. But the thing is, as things are today, I'm not sure you'd be worsening yourself if you took a job that pays 20% less. You'd just be holding on to something less than what you had, but still better than unemployment, you know?

It'll be a lot clearer when you get the particulars of the new job. And do you know for sure if they do want you? They might be bringing in their own people.