With these Unemployment Rates, Businesses Resort to Fraud to Avoid

With these Unemployment Rates, Businesses Resort to Fraud to Avoid Paying Benefits

I think I wouldn't even mind being in a car accident as much if I knew that my money problems were taken care of. Life is curious that way. Getting laid off is the worst thing that can happen as far as many of us are concerned. A year ago, being unemployed meant gaining the understanding of the community at large. You were a victim of a huge national crisis, and everyone had sympathy for what you were going through. Today though, there is no as much said on the news about unemployment, even if we are at an all-time unemployment high - of a kind the country hasn't seen in a quarter century. All that the papers in the news can say now is that the country is on the road to recovery, and that we've weathered the worst of the crisis. For some reason, they can't continue to publish stories on the same depressing facts for too long. They like change. Meanwhile, the unemployment rates are piling on, and people are filing applications for their jobless checks more so now than ever before. Former employer who are being stampeded with all these applications are finding all kinds of ways of fighting back - of challenging the unemployment claims.

That is right - one in four among us is having to deal with a boss who doesn't believe we deserve any more than we already have. So much for the "relationship" we have with our employers. This kind of thing happens in small businesses with high employee turnover a lot more than at the larger ones. Restaurants, transportation companies, retail outlets, have a pretty good revolving door as far as employee retention is concerned, and they find that they need to deny as many unemployment benefits as possible. With many employers though, this is not about being heartless. With unemployment rates in the country being what they are, these small businesses have to do this to even survive. An employer who wins at challenging a former employee's claims, can save $100 each year on those unemployment benefits insurance premiums he pays. Your former employer probably outsources the work that needs to be done challenging your claim. The expert lawyers they hire find some way for the company to weasel out of paying you. For instance, lots of them will say that you got fired because you were dishonest, violent, lazy any or all three. If you got fired for bad behavior, they don't owe you anything in benefits. That's as sleazy a trick as it can get.

What do you do if your application is rejected? This is a simple one, and you don't even think about it - you just rush out and appeal the decision. If they consider it a fight for their survival, your fight is no less serious. My mother for instance, a bright and dedicated worker if ever there was one, was laid off. And then to add insult to injury, they denied her any unemployment benefits because they said she was incompetent. My mother and I fought right back, and it took four months. But in the end we won. Employers need to understand that they can't just claim incompetence or dishonesty just to get out of a little responsibility. These are serious unemployment rates, and this many people can't afford to have their reputations ruined in this way. Just imagine - one out of 10 people out there gets tagged as fired for being incompetent. How could they ever find a job again with a reputation like that?

They use every trick in the book to make it look like they fired you in a way that doesn't require them to pay you benefits. Here's how you challenge each one of their claims.

1. They say that you were incompetent. Before you even appeal for unemployment benefits, apply with your employer for a personnel record. It has to show that you were given enough chances to improve. If there is nothing like that on record, you'll win. And they can't doctor your personnel file with made-up allegations, if you have a copy from a time they didn't even need to fear you would ask for benefits.

2. They say that you goldbricked while on the job all the time - again, your personnel record comes to your rescue. If you get a copy from before you applied for benefits.

3. They say it was a part of your employment contract that you were only a seasonal employee - in most states, you get benefits even if you are a seasonal employee. Your employment contract should help you here.

It is kind of well known now that it isn't just the current recession that is responsible for employment rates like these. Employers have been wanting to trim their work force down for quite a long time, and never had an excuse to do so. The recession was the answer to their prayers. And it's going to be really tough getting them to work on anything more than a skeletal workforce anymore. Unemployment levels such as these could be here to stay.