Unemployment Appeal was Remanded

[mwestby]

ILLINOIS
Unemployment claim was denied. I appealed and testified at the phone appeal hearing. The employer did not show to the appeal hearing or give reason for not appearing. I was discharged for misconduct due to company attendance policy. Two missed time clock punches is the reason they claim misconduct. I claim i did not miss these punches and employer claimed they have video evidence which was never submitted initially or at the appeal. The ALJ at the appeal hearing then REMANDED it to the original office to request time records and video evidence of the occurences leading to discharge. Should i object to the evidence since it was not submitted in the first place? The employer had more than one opportunity to submit this evidence and failed to. In my appeal letter i claimed there was video evidence that the employer refused to show me. Employer failed to submit this evidence and also failed to show to the appeal hearing to object to it.
Why would an impartial ALJ remand my appeal back down to the claim level so evidence could be requested from the employer? Shouldn't the employer have submitted this evidence to the claim dept. at the claim level and then re submit it prior to the appeal hearing? If i didn't know any better it seems if the ALJ might have been acting on behalf of the non-appearing employer, like a rep might...or am i missing something? Are there Rules of Procedure for Administrative Law Hearings which might presume the ALJ may be trying to color outside the lines so to speak?
I am just confused as to why the ALJ would not have ruled on this instead of remanding it, since the employer failed to submit evidence which i claimed they had from the very start of my unemployment benefit request. The employer failed to show at the appeal...it seems they are pushing against me and giving the employer every possible opportunity to deny me.
Now i am waiting for a response from the adjudicator at the initial claims level. where i may have to appeal once again.
Please help me, thank you for your time

 

[commentator]

Yes, there are rules and procedures. It is obvious that what the ALJ did was within the scope of these rules and procedures. Okay, they're all against me, they're on the side of the employer, huh? Well, not exactly. What happened was that the employer didn't appear, but from the sound of it, your claim was denied and an initial decision was made that you did have this attendance issue.

As it is, it's a matter of you saying you did, and the employer saying you didn't. The ALJ is asking for more evidence to determine if they should accept your word, find your more believable, or if the employer can in any way back up their claim that you aren't there, and they have proof you aren't there. You are not entitled to "object to this evidence" because it was not submitted before this hearing.

So essentially, they didn't find you particularly believable, even though your employer did not present their evidence at the hearing. But this doesn't mean they're all on the employer's side. Usually in attendance terminations, its pretty cut and dried. Either you were there or you weren't. Very few people will try to insist they were there when they weren't, or clocked in when they didn't, and somehow the system is finding it hard to believe in this circumstance. Before you can appeal again, you will have to let the process work through. They may approve you later if the employer choses not to submit any further proof.

 

[mwestby]

I was at work that day and i worked 10 hours. The employer claims i forgot to clock out at the end of the day which is the reason they fired me for misconduct....and claims they have video footage of this occurrence which they never submitted to the appeal hearing which they failed to show up to. So...the unemployment dept is instructed to request this video evidence...if the employer cannot give the evidence or doesn't respond to the unemployment department what does that mean for my determination?? Should i be granted benefits?? I know for a fact to clocked out that day but how can i prove it when the company is the only ones with access to these records....its my word against theirs.

 

[commentator]

Right now, there's really nothing you can do. Not having seen the case, not hearing all the details, and above all, not being the Illinois unemployment insurance administrators, no one else who is not directly involved can say, "Yes you should" or "No, you should not" be granted benefits. And there's no cut and dried answer. As I said, simply because they did not show up for the hearing, that does not necessarily mean the claim will be adjudicated in your favor. It has already been initially determined in the employer's favor. If this was a one time offense, it is more in your favor. But if they had a series of times where they'd warned you and you had failed to clock out, (you mention two) and this was simply the next time you did it, it matters less if they have the actual footage of the event taking place. An established pattern of behavior is more believable.

As I have always tried to explain here, there is no particular benefit to the workers in the unemployment system to favor either party. The employer does not have any extra clout. If it were the way they wanted it, there would be no unemployment insurance claims approved, because it costs them money. If there were automatic approval of each and every claim the law would not be followed either. Either way the people who work for the agency are not generally biased in one direction or another, though some states are more "employer friendly" or "employee friendly" in unemployment insurance policies and processes. Yours is not reputed to be an especially employer friendly state.

You have elected to appeal, but all you really have in your appeal, as you said, is your word against the information they have previously submitted and had your claim denied. The agency representative is supposed to go with the "more believable" of the two parties, which is pretty subjective sometimes, is pretty easy to determine sometimes. What I said above stands, You'll have to wait until a decision is given and then appeal the decision if you do not like it. Be sure you are making your regular weekly or bi weekly certifications for benefits for all these weeks that are passing, so that if the decision is granted, you'd be back paid for them.

 

[Chyvan]

In my appeal letter i claimed there was video evidence that the employer refused to show me. Employer failed to submit this evidence and also failed to show to the appeal hearing to object to it.

The judge is probably doing it because YOU raised the issue. Those appeal "letters" are really a REQUEST for an appeal hearing. Had you just said, "the determination dated mm/dd/yy is wrong. I want an appeal hearing scheduled," this probably wouldn't be happening to you.

. . . how can i prove it when the company is the only ones with access to these records....its my word against theirs.

You don't have to. The employer has to prove by a preponderance of the admissible evidence that you did what they claim you did. They saying you didn't punch out, and you saying you did is only 50/50, and tie goes to the one that doesn't have the burden of proof. However, it would have been nice if you'd submitted a pay stub to show that you'd been paid correctly for the time in question. Usually, when you don't punch out, your check is messed up, and then needs to be adjusted. No adjustment would go a long way to show that you probably did what you were supposed to do.