As many of you know my IL's own a flower shop... well we went to dinner with my IL's last night for Ted's birthday. While we were there my FIL is telling us about this letter/notice he got from EDD (unemployment dept) about a former employee - he was employed as a delivery driver. Apparently about 5 years ago this employee got his drivers license suspended & didn't say anything to my FIL until the flower shop got a notice of it from the DMV. So of course my FIL is mad but he gives the guy a warning and says this better never happen again. If he got into trouble like this just let my FIL know and they'd find an alternate position for the employee until he got it cleared up. Seems fair enough.
Nope. The employee did it AGAIN. So this time my FIL fired him with cause. So this employee files for unemployment (can't blame him for trying) and tells them that his license is suspended and he lied about it, that's why he was "let go". EDD sends my FIL a form saying that if he doesn't send the form back objecting to this employee receiving unemployment benefits, then he's going to receive them.
Apparently the state of CA is just handing out unemployment benefits to anyone who tries to get them. WTF.
btw - I have nothing against EDD or people who receive unemployment benefits - it's an important service the state provides. It just seems like EDD should have been able to figure out that employee didn't qualify on their own.
Re: no wonder CA is up a creek!
Meghan and Jonny- Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - May 1, 2010
Planning Bio My Blog
Ted was denied unemployment and his case went all the way to a hearing before a judge, his former employer admitted lying to the judge and trying to present false "evidence" again Ted, and he still lost. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason. Depends a lot on who's making the decision. Some people are pro-company and some are more pro-employee.
The things not take into account are pretty weird. Like the fact that the company that laid off Ted had laid off over 30 employees before him and they were fighting each & every persons request for unemployment. ::sigh:: Whatever.
It's like that in AK too. Personally I think it's BS that you can file for unemployment if you're fired. If you're laid off, that's different. But if you get fired it's your own GD fault and I don't want to pay your unemployment benefits because you're a screw up.
{Blog: Adventures of AlaskanAlison}
Agreed! And if you're fired for no reason, then you should sue the company, not worry about unemployment.
It's not that they're handing them out persay, but there is a responsibilty on the part of the employer to fight or argue. Sometimes the employee will not tell the entire truth and it's his responsibility as the employer to make sure all the relevant facts are known.
This case is similar to the one I had an appeal hearing for this morning. The employee agreed that they were doing something wrong for a long period of time while employed by us but still appealed. Who knows if we didn't fight it what she had said. Not all the notes from their interviews are disclosed to us.
As long as he sticks to the guidelines (ie. is timely and appears if neccessary) he has nothing to worry about. Although that is a pita and does take time away from his day.
This exactly!