Can an employer reject your unemployment claim?

[line-em-up]

My old lady quit a job several years ago because of all kinds of fucked up shit they were doing. She tried to get unemployment and the employer fought it and won. They were shady and crooked as fuck, and the state sided with them.

A similar thing happened to my SIL. That was 20 years ago. Since, then, I've come to realized what an idiot she is. It's no wonder that her employer fought it.

[Silverback]

Your severance doesn't interfere with your unemployment. You can get both.

except you can't get unemployment until your severance has run out.

[slow99]

I've been laid off twice - each instance I filed the evening of my last day and started collecting unemployment immediately. Don't recall anything about severance ... not sure if my company just wasn't reporting it or what.

[ceyko]

Thanks for the info guys, I really appreciate the tips. So, if they offer a severance, I should be on the lookout for information stating this is in lieu of filing for unemployment benefits? Or is it kind of an automatic, one or the other, type thing?

And don't sign the exit paperwork...

I only have first hand knowledge of one situation with a dude I knew. My story seems to be a little different.

My buddy is an INFOSEC guy and at the time he worked for a very large card processing company. Ever few weeks to a month him, his group and sometimes volunteers would walk the floors looking for security breaches. Unlocked cabinets, passwords (behind monitors, under keyboards...unsecured badges and so on) Typically these infractions would be a slap on the wrist.

One night he found on a server admin's desk a full list of all the admin usernames/passwords for all servers and even some network gear. Also, he randomly had a collection of user's passwords as well. Of course the list had IPs, hostname and such on it too. (Which for the record, besides it being common sense it was preached often not leave these things out. There were secure methods and no one really knew if data was stored on your laptop...etc..etc)

Of course that brought on a full court press of password changes throughout the environment. Which in man hours is huge because we ended up changing anything we could find/remember since we had to assume those passwords were compromised.

Dude gets fired, no two weeks later my buddy told me that the company rejected his unemployment request, he fought and the guy ended up being given unemployment benefits. After that I just assumed if you were fired, you get them cause it seemed like a waste of time. That sort of infraction is really serious in my opinion. Could cost employer and customer millions or more....cost employee jobs if data is used to do damage on network/compromise customer data...etc...etc.

[line-em-up]

except you can't get unemployment until your severance has run out.

Both my wife and I were let go from different companies several years apart. We were both told the same thing that you said. We both checked with the HR people that let us go and with TWC and they clarified that you do not have to use up your severance before you can get unemployment. I know the text below seems to say otherwise, but it's not what they told me over the phone or when I submitted it.

The rules state:

http://www.twc.state.tx.us/jobseekers/how-money-other-sources-can-affect-your-benefits

Severance or Wages Paid Instead of Notice of Layoff


Severance Pay

Severance pay is a sum of money that an employee is eligible to receive upon separation. Employers may have a company policy to pay severance pay.

You must report any severance pay to TWC when you apply for benefits or by calling a Tele-Center at 800-939-6631. Under Texas law, you cannot receive benefits while you are receiving certain types of severance pay. We will mail you a decision on whether your severance pay affects your unemployment benefits.
Wages Paid Instead of Notice of Layoff

Wages paid instead of notice of layoff are payments an employer makes to an employee who is involuntarily separated without receiving prior notice.

You must report any wages paid instead of notice of layoff to TWC when you apply for benefits or by calling a Tele-Center at 800-939-6631. Under Texas law, you cannot receive benefits while you are receiving wages paid instead of advance notice of layoff. We will mail you a decision on whether your wages paid instead of notice of layoff affect your unemployment benefits.

It isn't really clear in the text, so I contacted TWC and spoke with them in person. I also made sure and put it on my application for unemployment and they still paid me.

[kpc01]

Thanks for the info guys, I really appreciate the tips. So, if they offer a severance, I should be on the lookout for information stating this is in lieu of filing for unemployment benefits? Or is it kind of an automatic, one or the other, type thing?

And don't sign the exit paperwork...

I had this happen a little over a year ago. I got a very nice severance package (insurance, 20k, bought my company car super cheap) and read it in detail before I signed it. I waited until all my severance was in my bank acct then filed. I never told them I planned on it but when I did I got it for a few months with no question. Worked great for me!

[8mpg]

yes, but they're not going to

I know multiple people who were fired with cause (for BS reasons) who had no problem drawing unemployment

my boss said she is going to court to fight an unemployment claim.

[Baba Ganoush]

The employer can flat out lie and get current employees to make false statements to the mediators. Happened to me years ago in a small business. I think as soon as my budget bloating, screw job of a boss figured out he may be on the hook for some of my payout (not sure if this is true) he scrambled to fabricate past insubordination.

It didn't work however. By the time he won a bullshit reversal I had already received a check and returned to work.

[Broncojohnny]

Both my wife and I were let go from different companies several years apart. We were both told the same thing that you said. We both checked with the HR people that let us go and with TWC and they clarified that you do not have to use up your severance before you can get unemployment. I know the text below seems to say otherwise, but it's not what they told me over the phone or when I submitted it.

The rules state:

http://www.twc.state.tx.us/jobseekers/how-money-other-sources-can-affect-your-benefits

Severance or Wages Paid Instead of Notice of Layoff


Severance Pay

Severance pay is a sum of money that an employee is eligible to receive upon separation. Employers may have a company policy to pay severance pay.

You must report any severance pay to TWC when you apply for benefits or by calling a Tele-Center at 800-939-6631. Under Texas law, you cannot receive benefits while you are receiving certain types of severance pay. We will mail you a decision on whether your severance pay affects your unemployment benefits.
Wages Paid Instead of Notice of Layoff

Wages paid instead of notice of layoff are payments an employer makes to an employee who is involuntarily separated without receiving prior notice.

You must report any wages paid instead of notice of layoff to TWC when you apply for benefits or by calling a Tele-Center at 800-939-6631. Under Texas law, you cannot receive benefits while you are receiving wages paid instead of advance notice of layoff. We will mail you a decision on whether your wages paid instead of notice of layoff affect your unemployment benefits.

It isn't really clear in the text, so I contacted TWC and spoke with them in person. I also made sure and put it on my application for unemployment and they still paid me.

Your severance pay has to be considered "wages in lieu of notice". Meaning they have to write you a check specifically for not giving you some lead time in letting you go. If they do that then the check they write you is, in effect, your unemployment. Almost no one does this.

In reality, it is very easy for them to fill out the forms and mistakenly check a box and have the money count towards this. I think that is why you see some people who end up not being able to claim unemployment and others who can.

[cyclonescott]

My wife went out on a FMLA claim a few years ago. She was of work for about 3 months and then tried to come back to work and her employer wouldn't let her so she filed for unemployment. The D-bag that she worked for tried to fight her claim. She had to file some paperwork but was able to collect in the end.

[GrayStangGT]

We only dispute the ones that deserve to be disputed. I've had people who just didn't show up to work and had a claim filed by that afternoon. If we lay someone off then we don't dispute it, but I'm sure there are companies out there with less morals that will dispute any claims.

[Juiced4v]

Yeah it sucks! my company does it all the time

[GeorgeG.]

Hopefully it doesn't happen, but if it does, I have a plan. The big boss that I think seems to have it out for me won't be back till later this week so if it's going to happen, it'll be early next week.

[SS Junk]

In reality, it is very easy for them to fill out the forms and mistakenly check a box and have the money count towards this. I think that is why you see some people who end up not being able to claim unemployment and others who can.

A previous employer told us if we applied for unemployment while receiving our severance it would be forfeited.

[GeorgeG.]

So if a company offers 2 weeks severance, it's almost better to reject that offer and just file for unemployment? I work for a non-profit so I don't see even 1 month happening. 4 months would be nice.