Unemployment challenge

[Pross001]

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

My unemployment is being challenged, and I received paperwork from the state of Florida that shows copies of reports sent by the lawyers of my former company. One report shows that I signed a final documentation. The document is worded "I have read, understand and acknowledge the statements contained in this document," but does not necessarily say that I agree with the document. Before I signed this, I asked the manager if this means that I bond by my signature in any legal manner and they said "no." That is why I agreed to sign the document. Does this mean that I don't have a legitimate claim since I signed this document? Will they not hear, acknowledge, or take into consideration my side of the story due to this document?

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

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

My unemployment is being challenged, and I received paperwork from the state of Florida that shows copies of reports sent by the lawyers of my former company. One report shows that I signed a final documentation. The document is worded "I have read, understand and acknowledge the statements contained in this document," but does not necessarily say that I agree with the document. Before I signed this, I asked the manager if this means that I bond by my signature in any legal manner and they said "no." That is why I agreed to sign the document. Does this mean that I don't have a legitimate claim since I signed this document? Will they not hear, acknowledge, or take into consideration my side of the story due to this document?

You need to file a timely appeal. You can present this at appeal. Make sure to continue complying with all eligibility requirements, while you appeal.

 

[Pross001]

On November 8th I'm required to attend a phone call hearing where I assume that representatives from the company and the state will be on the line. Should I take an action before then?

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

On November 8th I'm required to attend a phone call hearing where I assume that representatives from the company and the state will be on the line. Should I take an action before then?

Follow your paperwork. It appears they scheduled the appeal hearing for you.

 

[sandyclaus]

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

My unemployment is being challenged, and I received paperwork from the state of Florida that shows copies of reports sent by the lawyers of my former company. One report shows that I signed a final documentation. The document is worded "I have read, understand and acknowledge the statements contained in this document," but does not necessarily say that I agree with the document. Before I signed this, I asked the manager if this means that I bond by my signature in any legal manner and they said "no." That is why I agreed to sign the document. Does this mean that I don't have a legitimate claim since I signed this document? Will they not hear, acknowledge, or take into consideration my side of the story due to this document?

Herein lies the rub. It's all about the context here in what the employer meant by the term "acknowledge".

Definitions of ACKNOWLEDGE include the following:
to recognize the rights, authority, or status of; to disclose knowledge of or agreement with; to express gratitude or obligation for <acknowledge a gift>; to take notice of <failed to acknowledge my greeting>; to make known the receipt of <acknowledge a letter>; to recognize as genuine or valid <acknowledge a debt>.

Whereas you may have thought you were simply acknowledging the receipt of the actions taken by the employer, they may argue that you also AGREED with the statements (as in that last one, that you recognized their statements as valid). In most cases, where an employee disputes the facts in such a document, they have an opportunity to write their own separate statement - either in a comments section provided on the document, or by attaching their own written statement. Not doing that could end up blowing up in your face.

Not saying that you couldn't make your argument with the folks at unemployment, but just giving you something to consider when you do.

 

[commentator]

When you have your hearing, totally forget about anything you signed. They're not really interested in this document. Incidentally, I have seen employers walk in with all sorts of signed documents which admit wrongdoing which the employee swears they've never signed, never even seen. Sometimes employers demand that you sign a statement so you can receive your final paycheck, swearing that you quit or stole something or something similiar. It still doesn't work well for them.

In the unemployment hearing, we gather that you were initially approved for benefits based on what you told them when you filed. Your employer has elected to use their right to protest this decision and present their argument in the hearing that either (1) you left the job by your choice, not theirs or (2) you were fired from the job for a valid misconduct reason, that you were given an opportunity to change this behavior and keep your job and chose not to do so, or (3) you did something on the job that was so spectacularly bad that you should not have done it even one time and you were fired for doing this.

The officer conducting the hearing will ask each of you to present your side of the situation. What did you tell them when you were filing originally? The employer has no more clout than you do, the hearing officer works under the assumption that either or both of you may be lying your head off, no weight will be given to anything you signed when you left if you explain that you understood that this meant you were signing, but you were not agreeing to admit any wrongdoing, and that you absolutely did not do whatever they said you did.

Stick to that story, whatever really happened, and don't worry about whether or not you "have an appeal" because you signed something. This is a whole level playing field, and both of you will be giving testimony and will be expected to explain your situation clearly. That they do or do not have an attorney isn't really important. They either have a good misconduct reason to terminate or they don't, or you either quit the job without a valid work related reason or you didn't.

If I were conducting a hearing and an employer came at me waving an agreement arguing that the claimant cannot disagree or must accept fault because they've signed this statement saying they agree, I'd totally disregard it, probably tell them to move on. Remember this is an administrative hearing, not a court case. In the hearings in this state (FL) the officer determines relevance, and the meaning of "agree" isn't relevant.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Yeah !!! commentators here with professional experience.

 

[Pross001]

Once again, thanks of the help

 

[jiggy78]

Tell us what policy or rule you allegedly violated and we can tell you your chances of being disqualified on the basis of misconduct. Breaking a rule or policy is not neccessarily misconduct, not by a long shot.

 

[Pross001]

I had the hearing today, and the General Manager of the business was present to explain the company's side of the story. He spoke as if he had heard all of the dynamics of the case through hearsay. Essentially, he wasn't not the one that oversaw the issue that occurred. Everything that he knows of the case was through information given to him by an acting manager that oversaw the issue/incident. He was not able to answer various questions on the case due to this.

Will this affect the decisions of the man overseeing the hearing?

 

[jiggy78]

It does not bode well for them that all of their testimony was hearsay. "Somebody else told me that this thing happened" really doesn't count for much.

 

[commentator]

You'll know in a day or two. Yes, many times the person representing the employer who shows up for the hearing doesn't have first hand knowledge of the situation. Many companies contract out their unemployment hearings to a third party contractor. They've never been on the property, just looked at the records. While hearsay isn't inadmissable in an administrative hearing of this type, it does tend to make the party "less believable" than the testimony of the other party, you, who were there and have first hand information about what you say happened.

But it is possible that even if the other party doesn't show up at all, has NO testimony of any kind, you could still lose your case, depending on what you presented to the hearing officer. It's just all relative to what happened and what documentation there is of it, and how the officer sees it from the material presented and interprets the u.i. law.

Beyond the hearing you have just had, theres one more appeal. If the party that loses wishes to request it, the Board of Review will look at the case. There's not another hearing like this kind, but they just look at it again with fresh eyes to make sure the law was followed in the previous hearings and decisions. But in case you're thinking of it, you could not mount an argument that the employer presented only hearsay evidence. Whatever evidence that is presented is something that the hearing officer has elected to accept as evidence at the time of the hearing. There's no appeal of that.

 

[Pross001]

I made a phone call today, and it seems that I was able to defend my case and it was affirmed. However, at different times when I have called up to find what was the status of my unemployment compensation they have said that it was just the system being slow in finalizing it, and it had nothing to do with the hearing. Today, they told me the opposite that it was this hearing that was holding up the processing of my claim, and now it may take more weeks to go through. What am I suppose to believe?

 

[commentator]

Well, not really sure what you are asking here. If you've been making weekly certifications for the weeks that have passed since you filed your claim, and it was at first denied, but now has been approved in the hearing, you would not have received any checks up to this time. But now that it has been approved, when the hearing officer puts in the correct code, all your checks you are owed for weeks up to now should be released. And then from now on, you'll certify for each week after it has passed, and you'll receive a check after the certification is received.

But occasionally, the system doesn't get that signal. If you haven't received a check within a few days, and your back pay if you were making your certifications before now, then you'll need to reconnect with them, as they are the only ones who can make it right. Keep prodding. I have always been amazed by how passive some people are. While somepeople want to call and find out where their check is on an hourly basis, some people will wait and wait and wait, and never ask and never find out.

Without looking at your claim, I can't say what is holding things up. But if you haven't been making the weekly certifications for benefits, your claim will actually begin as of the date you have been approved and you'll begin receiving checks after you've certified for them.

 

[Pross001]

Well, I always claim my weeks. And, I'll try calling again tomorrow. It basically seems that depending on who I talk to, I get a different story. I may have to document in writing, exactly, what all these representatives are saying when I call. That may begin to give me a gauge of what is going on.

I have only received one check this whole time, which was once before I took one job that only lasted one week.