Got fired on Tuesday HELP!!!

[ema607]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York
On Tuesday I was fired from my job and told that it was involuntary termination. The conversation with the HR director was very polite and she voluntarily told me that I would receive unemployment Insurance. I did not receive anything in writing other than you are terminated as of today. No discussion about policy violation, misconduct etc. I assumed it was a mutual feeling.
Well low and behold today I receive a letter stating that the company said I was fired for misconduct. . SO now I have to have a hearing for that. Can she be held accountable for not telling me why I was fired and for telling me I would receive befits? I was told by a friend who work in HR to call her Monday morning and ask her why she said I would get unemployment and then submitted paper work saying no. I am a physical wreck over this and will soon be car-less, homeless etc. Please advise.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[>Charlotte<]

It's not your ex-employer who decides whether you qualify for unemployment benefits, it's the State of New York. Go ahead and file now so you don't waste any time.

If the company contests you can deal with it at that time, but you'll only receive benefits for the weeks for which you apply, so do it now.

The responses might be slow because of the weekend, but you'll get a lot more (and very good) advice soon. Keep checking back.

I'll edit this in a minute with a link to the site for New York.

https://ui.labor.state.ny.us/UBC/home.do

 

[ema607]

Thanks - I have allready applied

Hi there
Thanks for the quick reply. I allready did apply throught NY State Department of Labor. When NY State notified the company of the claim that is when it was stated I was fired for misconduct. Untill then I did not know that . I have nothing in writing nor verbal when I was fired other than it was " Involuntary Termination" and the HR DIrector said I would get Unemployment benefits.

 

[cbg]

Saying that you were fired for misconduct, and contesting unemployment, are not the same thing.

 

[ema607]

As I understand NY State will not pay benefits if you were fired for misconduct. I am not sure how my ex-employer can say I was fired for misconduct when they never said that to me at all.

 

[cbg]

You are painting with far too broad a brush. In NO state will the UI commission simply look at the employer's reason for the termination and automatically deny benefits. The UI commission will want to know specifics, and then THEY, and only they, will agree if whatever happened qualifies as misconduct sufficient for benefits to be denied.

Again, the employer may have told you that they would not contest. That is not the same thing as agreeing to lie about their reason for terming your employment.

To be honest, the employer had no business telling you that you would get unemployment since that is not something that is within her power to decide. The employer NEVER gets to say yes, the employee will get benefits or no, the employee will not get benefits. That decision is made ONLY by the state.

She is not required by law to give you a laundry list of the specific reasons you were let go. She IS required to give that information to the UI commission if they ask.

 

[ema607]

Thank you for your reply.

DOes the HR need to tell me what policys or procedures I violated? I don't understand why I was not told I was being fired for misconduct. I know of a complaint letter that was read to me in a phone call by my boss, but I was not informed of anything else. I have a 3 page form for NY State, and frankly without knowing , I feel it nearly impossible to answer the questions i am being asked.
I don't want a judge to think I am being evasive either. I knew at the job it was a matter of time before I was fired. I just didnt have a good beginning with them.

 

[cbg]

No. HR does not need to tell you what policies or procedures you violated. I don't know how to make it any more clear than that.

If you are aware of a complaint that was made about you, I don't know what more you need.

 

[commentator]

You answer the questions for the fact finding hearing regarding your unemployment exactly as you know them, from your perspective. You do not try to pre-anticipate what the employer is going to say and answer the question related to this. In other words, where it says, "Why were you discharged from your job?" you answer, "I honestly haven't got a clue!" "Were you given any warnings or write ups for any reason?" Put 'no' if you weren't, yes if you were.

The employer has to prove, to keep you from receiving benefits, that they fired you for a good misconduct reason. This can either be something they have repeatedly warned you about, and that you knowingly and consciously kept violating a rule or procedure even when you had warnings and knew this could lead to your termination, OR it was something bad either mentioned in the company handbook and clearly stated and known by all employees as something that could get you fired for even one violation, such as misuse of the company's computer OR it was 'gross misconduct' which means something so bad you should have known not to do this even once, like stealing or hitting your supervisor.

If they did not have any of these good reasons, or you were unaware of their reason for termination, then your chances of getting unemployment, even though they fired you for misconduct, are very good. They do not automatically take the word of the employer about it, you and they are on equal footing with the unemployment office. So you are going to have to get brave here, stand up for yourself in this process and say what happened to the best of your knowledge, without the coaching and assistance of your employer.

Don't whine about how they've treated you, or how you're going to be SOOO poor, either to the employer or the unemployment office. Unemployment is not given out because you need money, it is given because you qualify. If you begin filing for weeks, and you are determined approved for unemployment, you'll be back paid for each week you have filed.


You may call the employer's HR back on Monday morning and demand why they did this to you, but I'd avoid it. Because right now, you have the capability to fill out this paperwork, and will not accomplish anything by calling HR back. They may tell you why they've terminated you, or they may not, they're under no obligation even to talk to you at this point. Why cause yourself unnecessary stress? Fill out the paperwork and get it back to U.I. in a timely manner. Don't stress about how you have been treated. It goes with being terminated. You'll be moving on, finding another job soon. You can't sue them or pay them back. Getting unemployment and moving on is the best revenge.


You don't need your employer or anyone else to sit with you and hold your hand as you write up your answers to the fact finding related to unemployment. From the day they let you go, your interests and their interests are NOT the same. DO NOT believe your employer when they tell you anything much about your unemployment insurance. It is to their benefit if no one ever gets to draw unemployment from their account.

You will receive a decision with a couple of weeks after you get the paperwork back to Unemployment. Then either party will have a right to appeal this first decision. What they may have been telling you is that they won't fight if you are approved for benefits, but no matter what they told you, it doesn't matter. You need to move forward.