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Unemployment fraud

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What is the name of your state? OHIO

I was briefly unemployed in early 2019. I was laid off along with 4 other employees. We were given a 1 month severance pay and the remaining time in our paid time off bucket. We were told this in a room, told to pack our stuff and leave. We were not given any paperwork or Cobra letters or 401k rollover letters. Nothing.

So I filed for unemployment benefits. I had paycheck due to me because we were at the end of a pay period. I disclosed that.

When I went to fill out the online application it asked if we were getting severance pay. I did not know how the severance pay was being disbursed so I called HR for the job. The place of employment was a law firm in business for many years.

The HR person who is also the Comptroller for the company told me to check the box "no", because he was submitting the severance pay as back pay I was owed. I asked him 3 times if he was sure and he said this is how the company does it. Btw, they lay people off every year. So I believed him. He also said the paid time off was the same, I didnt have to claim it because we were given out time offing a bucket in our anniversary dates and my anniversary date was May of year before I was laid off.

So i did that, answered no to severance question.

So now i am working at a new job. I was only unemployed 7 weeks. Collected 3 unemployment checks for a total of $900.

Last Friday, the 13th, I got a notification from the unemployment bureau that there is a urgent notice on their website for me. I tried to open it but it would not open on my cell phone. I called the phone number on the email and the person who sent it was off that Friday so I talked with another person in her department.

She told me it was about the severance pay while getting U/E benefits in the amount of $641.00. I told her the gist of what happened that I didn't know how to answer the question so I called HR and he told me to answer no.

The severance was paid out like pay checks not in a lump sum. I did not have any paperwork saying out it was to be paid out. The HR person gave me his word that I was not doing anything wrong and I believed him. He was, after all, HR and the Comptroller for a law firm.

I am a 62 year old woman, I have limited hearing and sight. I was scared I would not be able to even find another job. I hadn't been unemployed in over 20 years. When they called us into the meeting to be laid off, I was having a panic attack. I couldn't even hear what he was saying, but I knew I was being let go. I started crying. I knew I was supposed to act professionally but I also have been diagnosed with chronic depression and general anxiety disorder. My feet are bad, I walk with pain.

I relied on what the HR person told me and now I am being, i guess, investigatigated.

After I talked to the person at Ohio U/E office, I called the HR person at my old job. He did not deny telling me what he told me. He said he had to answer questions regarding another coworker who was laid off and he would call the number I called.

He called me back and told me that the caseworker was not in but he talked to the lady I talked to. He said she told him that I would have to authorize him to talk to them. Which sounds funny to me. He is HR, but I will authorize him.
I have to call the caseworker Monday. I am so scared. Are they going to prosecute me? I can give the money right back. But I am so scared about prosecution, jail etc. I can give then the $641, but what are the fines and penalties in Ohio.

I am so scared, can someone help me please?
 


LdiJ

Senior Member
What is the name of your state? OHIO

I was briefly unemployed in early 2019. I was laid off along with 4 other employees. We were given a 1 month severance pay and the remaining time in our paid time off bucket. We were told this in a room, told to pack our stuff and leave. We were not given any paperwork or Cobra letters or 401k rollover letters. Nothing.

So I filed for unemployment benefits. I had paycheck due to me because we were at the end of a pay period. I disclosed that.

When I went to fill out the online application it asked if we were getting severance pay. I did not know how the severance pay was being disbursed so I called HR for the job. The place of employment was a law firm in business for many years.

The HR person who is also the Comptroller for the company told me to check the box "no", because he was submitting the severance pay as back pay I was owed. I asked him 3 times if he was sure and he said this is how the company does it. Btw, they lay people off every year. So I believed him. He also said the paid time off was the same, I didnt have to claim it because we were given out time offing a bucket in our anniversary dates and my anniversary date was May of year before I was laid off.

So i did that, answered no to severance question.

So now i am working at a new job. I was only unemployed 7 weeks. Collected 3 unemployment checks for a total of $900.

Last Friday, the 13th, I got a notification from the unemployment bureau that there is a urgent notice on their website for me. I tried to open it but it would not open on my cell phone. I called the phone number on the email and the person who sent it was off that Friday so I talked with another person in her department.

She told me it was about the severance pay while getting U/E benefits in the amount of $641.00. I told her the gist of what happened that I didn't know how to answer the question so I called HR and he told me to answer no.

The severance was paid out like pay checks not in a lump sum. I did not have any paperwork saying out it was to be paid out. The HR person gave me his word that I was not doing anything wrong and I believed him. He was, after all, HR and the Comptroller for a law firm.

I am a 62 year old woman, I have limited hearing and sight. I was scared I would not be able to even find another job. I hadn't been unemployed in over 20 years. When they called us into the meeting to be laid off, I was having a panic attack. I couldn't even hear what he was saying, but I knew I was being let go. I started crying. I knew I was supposed to act professionally but I also have been diagnosed with chronic depression and general anxiety disorder. My feet are bad, I walk with pain.

I relied on what the HR person told me and now I am being, i guess, investigatigated.

After I talked to the person at Ohio U/E office, I called the HR person at my old job. He did not deny telling me what he told me. He said he had to answer questions regarding another coworker who was laid off and he would call the number I called.

He called me back and told me that the caseworker was not in but he talked to the lady I talked to. He said she told him that I would have to authorize him to talk to them. Which sounds funny to me. He is HR, but I will authorize him.
I have to call the caseworker Monday. I am so scared. Are they going to prosecute me? I can give the money right back. But I am so scared about prosecution, jail etc. I can give then the $641, but what are the fines and penalties in Ohio.

I am so scared, can someone help me please?
They will want you to pay the money back. I do not believe that you will be prosecuted. It does you no good to stew about this until Monday. You just need to calm down. If you have any medication for your anxiety, you need to take some.
 
Thanks for your reply. I am on medication, thanks.

While I appreciate your reply, it does not help a person with General Anxiety disorder when you say just calm down. I am trying to calm down. I thought it would help to post on this board.

I take my meds, I practice my methods to be calm, but sometimes it just doesn't work.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
It is very, very rare that someone is jailed for unemployment issues, and on those occasions when they have, it's been people who fought them and played games with them and refused to cooperate.
 

commentator

Senior Member
Oh hogwash! Calm down here. Breathe. Stop telling yourself stories, imagining all the worst possible things that might happen. You got through your tough time, your period of unemployment, and being let go and everything. You're back to work. Breathe, chill.

You are nowhere near going to jail, being prosecuted, any of these crazy things you're catastrophizing about. And that's what it is, really. You were suddenly let go from a job, you answered the questions to the best of your ability, as you were actually advised to by the company you were being laid off from, and now, because they're investigating it, you're worrying in general about everything, visualizing the worst of the worst of the worst out comes of things you don't really understand anyhow.

The unemployment system is processing what went on back when you received that bit of unemployment. They do this all the time about every claim they have received. The former employer also was reporting your wages, there has been a cross-match and you are being investigated because there's some question about whether or not this payment, or part of it, was or was not severance.

They deal with literally THOUSANDS of things like this in a year. They're not interested in socking it to you personally, sending you to the big house, all those worries you have. They will talk to you, they'll talk to your former employer, and they'll make a decision about whether or not you were overpaid. If you were, they may decide that what you received was actually severance and that you are overpaid on your claim in the amount of $XXX dollars. You pay them the money. It's no longer an issue.

You don't need to argue, offer a whole litany of excuses, etc. You just tell them what you did, when you did it, why you did it, and let them decide whether or not you were overpaid. When they give you a decision about the issue, you repay the money if they say you owe it. This is not a life threatening emergency. They prosecute a VERY SMALL number of the people who commit blatant agency fraud in any one year. Some person who didn't call severance a severance on the advice of their HR person isn't going to be considered a lot of bang for the buck in making an example of people who cheat on their unemployment insurance benefits. Talk to them as soon as possible, do not avoid them, be frank, don't be silly, (whatever you do don't tell them you were too darn anxious and unhealthy to work when you were back there drawing benefits!)and let them straighten this out.
 
Oh hogwash! Calm down here. Breathe. Stop telling yourself stories, imagining all the worst possible things that might happen. You got through your tough time, your period of unemployment, and being let go and everything. You're back to work. Breathe, chill.

You are nowhere near going to jail, being prosecuted, any of these crazy things you're catastrophizing about. And that's what it is, really. You were suddenly let go from a job, you answered the questions to the best of your ability, as you were actually advised to by the company you were being laid off from, and now, because they're investigating it, you're worrying in general about everything, visualizing the worst of the worst of the worst out comes of things you don't really understand anyhow.

The unemployment system is processing what went on back when you received that bit of unemployment. They do this all the time about every claim they have received. The former employer also was reporting your wages, there has been a cross-match and you are being investigated because there's some question about whether or not this payment, or part of it, was or was not severance.

They deal with literally THOUSANDS of things like this in a year. They're not interested in socking it to you personally, sending you to the big house, all those worries you have. They will talk to you, they'll talk to your former employer, and they'll make a decision about whether or not you were overpaid. If you were, they may decide that what you received was actually severance and that you are overpaid on your claim in the amount of $XXX dollars. You pay them the money. It's no longer an issue.

You don't need to argue, offer a whole litany of excuses, etc. You just tell them what you did, when you did it, why you did it, and let them decide whether or not you were overpaid. When they give you a decision about the issue, you repay the money if they say you owe it. This is not a life threatening emergency. They prosecute a VERY SMALL number of the people who commit blatant agency fraud in any one year. Some person who didn't call severance a severance on the advice of their HR person isn't going to be considered a lot of bang for the buck in making an example of people who cheat on their unemployment insurance benefits. Talk to them as soon as possible, do not avoid them, be frank, don't be silly, (whatever you do don't tell them you were too darn anxious and unhealthy to work when you were back there drawing benefits!)and let them straighten this out.
Thank you for your reply. I appreciate your help. I feel better now.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
Thanks for your reply. I am on medication, thanks.

While I appreciate your reply, it does not help a person with General Anxiety disorder when you say just calm down. I am trying to calm down. I thought it would help to post on this board.

I take my meds, I practice my methods to be calm, but sometimes it just doesn't work.
Since I also have problems with anxiety and take meds for it, I think that I am in a unique position to tell you to calm down and take your meds. You are not going to jail for this.
 
I would pray for dealing with anxiety. You have not been in my shoes. I was kidnapped in broad daylight, thrown in the back of a car and driven to the vacant lot in the middle of no where while my psycho ex rambled about the devil and the angels he saw that day. That was one day...and not even the worst one.

I take my meds, every day for the rest of my life. I have risen from things you have not been thru. I have fought depression,anxiety, bullying and physical and emotional abuse, all my life.

This U/E thing is nothing, but when something comes up, sometimes I do blow it up. I'm afraid of losing what I have. I have a life now that I love and I fear losing it.

But anxiety, PTSD....this is my life. Don't judge.
 

commentator

Senior Member
I encourage you to be simply polite and professional in your dealings with the unemployment system, (which, at our age I'm sure you know how to do and are capable of doing) and to the best of your abilities perfectly honest, and accept what they tell you. I'm sure your counselors are working with you to try to help you not let your anxiety demons become attached to every issue. This is one you should just let slide away, as it will.

Do not bring up or get into any of your health issues as a reason for having made mistakes or done anything you've done related to unemployment issues ("I was just SOOO anxious......") because you do not need their sympathy, they are going to try to be totally objective unless you're especially obnoxious to them in some way. And at the time you drew benefits you were certifying that you were able, available and actively ready for new work, not lying on the floor in a puddle of anxieties. Which obviously is true, as you have now successfully moved forward. Best wishes.
 
I encourage you to be simply polite and professional in your dealings with the unemployment system, (which, at our age I'm sure you know how to do and are capable of doing) and to the best of your abilities perfectly honest, and accept what they tell you. I'm sure your counselors are working with you to try to help you not let your anxiety demons become attached to every issue. This is one you should just let slide away, as it will.

Do not bring up or get into any of your health issues as a reason for having made mistakes or done anything you've done related to unemployment issues ("I was just SOOO anxious......") because you do not need their sympathy, they are going to try to be totally objective unless you're especially obnoxious to them in some way. And at the time you drew benefits you were certifying that you were able, available and actively ready for new work, not lying on the floor in a puddle of anxieties. Which obviously is true, as you have now successfully moved forward. Best wishes.
Thank you very much for your thoughtful reply.

I talked to the caseworker and she asked her questions. I explained what happened and she told me I wasn't in any trouble and the worst thing that would happen is i would have to give the money back and i could work out a payment plan. And she was going to contact the HR to determine how he meant the pay to be disbursed to me. So I may not even have to pay it all back. It may be that paycheck messed that up I may only have to give back a portion of the U/E I received.

Thank you for your advice. I took it, I didn't mention my issues at all. I just told the truth of what happened and left it at that.

So I just wait to find out if I have to pay the money back.
 

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