Does "At Will" employer have to give reason for firing to Unemployment office?

[justvisiting]

Does "At Will" employer have to give reason for firing to Unemployment office?

I realize that (I think) 49 of the 50 states are "At Will" and that employers can terminate employees for no reason or for another reason (as long as it's not discriminatory based on race, sex, age, etc.)

My question is this: While they may not have to give a reason to the employee, if the terminated person files for unemployment won't they have to give a reason to the Unemployment office?

A friend was fired recently (after less than 6 months) for what she feels was a personality conflict. When she was fired she was given some gibberish about how they needed a different skill set and she had trouble handling the workload (which *was* very heavy). She has filed for unemployment and was told they will contact the employer.

So, don't they HAVE to give a "Reason for separation" to the Unemployment office? What is the employer says "poor performance" - do they have to document that and if so does that mean her unemployment benefits will be denied?

 

[Beth3]

"So, don't they HAVE to give a "Reason for separation" to the Unemployment office?" Only if the employer wishes to contest the claim.

"What is the employer says "poor performance" - do they have to document that and if so does that mean her unemployment benefits will be denied?" Poor performance is not a reason that will result in UC benefits being denied, unless the employer can substantiate that the employee purposefully did not perform their job well.

 

[justvisiting]

Thanks for reply, Beth. Sounds like she'll be okay. I'll pass information on.

It's my feeling that firings like this are usually for personality clashes but I can see where it would be best for employer not to contest except in cases where there was obvious misconduct, theft, etc. or deliberate neglect of duty.

I was telling her that I know of someone who misrepresented (as in lied about) her skills, struggled, was fired. Employer told this to Unemployment but the person was still granted benefits.

Personality clashes are a whole 'nother animal and usually not worth even mentioning.

 

[Beth3]

No UC claim is worth contesting unless the employer believes that the reason the person was fired amounted to "willful misconduct" as defined in his State's UC reg's. Anything else is just a waste of everybody's time.

 

[justvisiting]

I realize state UC regs vary, but just for conversational/information purposes, isn't "willful misconduct" something like: stealing. falsifying records, physical fighting, doing drugs on the job, destroying property, things like that?

 

[Beth3]

Yes, those are examples of willful misconduct, which is generally described as "willfully failing to act in the employer's best interests." In other words, the employee knowingly violated a work rule/company policy or the employee's behavior was sufficiently egregious that it violated reasonable standards of conduct. For example, Handbooks I've written don't specifically state "It is against company policy to punch your supervisor in the face" however an employee discharged for doing so would certainly not be eligible for UC benefits.

 

[cbg]

With regards to "willful misconduct" I had an employee who was turned down for UC because of excessive absences and I didn't even contest it. The UC office asked why I fired her; I answered the question. They asked if she had been warned; I said that she had. They asked for copies of the warnings; I provided them. The denied her benefits and told her it was because she had been told that if she missed another day of work without a medical verification of illness she would be fired; she had missed a day of work for reasons that weren't even medical and she was fired. There is a LOT more history to the story than than this, but that's the general gist. As far as the UC office was concerned, taking a day off under these circumstances constituted willful misconduct, and from their perspective that was reason enough to deny her benefits even if I was willing for her to have them.

So while the items on your list you describe can be willful misconduct, it's not limited to such things. Sometimes willful violation of company policy counts, too.

 

[justvisiting]

Interesting. Thanks for the information.