In Record Numbers, Employers Move to Block Unemployment Payouts

[babylonsister]

Out of Work and Challenged on Benefits, Too
In Record Numbers, Employers Move to Block Unemployment Payouts

By Peter Whoriskey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 12, 2009; Page A01


It's hard enough to lose a job. But for a growing proportion of U.S. workers, the troubles really set in when they apply for unemployment benefits.

More than a quarter of people applying for such claims have their rights to the benefit challenged as employers increasingly act to block payouts to former workers.

The proportion of claims disputed by former employers and state agencies has reached record levels in recent years, according to the Labor Department numbers tallied by the Urban Institute.

Under state and federal laws, employees who are fired for misbehavior or quit voluntarily are ineligible for unemployment compensation. When jobless claims are blocked, employers save money because their unemployment insurance rates are based on the amount of the benefits their workers collect.

As unemployment rolls swell in the recession, many workers seem surprised to find their benefits challenged, their former bosses providing testimony against them. On one recent morning in what amounts to one of Maryland's unemployment courts, employees and employers squared off at conference tables to rehash reports of bad customer service, anger management and absenteeism.

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/11/AR2009021104311.html

[FreakinDJ]

1. Unless there are penalties for lying - then what is to stop them

[babylonsister]

5. What agency monitors unemployment offices? I can see some

class action suits generated from the selfish actions of these companies.

[Saphire]

2. The samll company I work for does this. Just laid off about 10 people

and their fighting all of them. Bastards. Surly, when they see all the claims against a certain company...can they keep denying them?

[we can do it]

3. This Just Happened To a Friend -

She had a job that basically cut all her hours, she got a new temp job, she was about to go full time when a good portion of the regular workers and all temps were laid off due to orders being cancelled. After a couple weeks her previous employer challenged her benefit.

[LiberalEsto]

4. Basically the bastards want people to starve

and I hope these employers rot in hell

:mad: