First of all, there are no guarantees in unemployment. Each case is decided by the State on an individual basis. Even instances where it seems very straight forward that you should win the claim, you may still lose if the person quit for a compelling reason beyond their control. For example, you may lose the case if your employee quit because they are escaping from domestic violence or their military spouse is being relocated.
It is also important to know that if you terminate someone because they did not have the skills to perform the job or they were unable to be successful because of their skills, they will most likely win unemployment. Unemployment is only denied when the employee did something that violated a company policy or was significant misconduct AND they knew that their behavior would lead to termination.
Here are the top 5 steps you can take to increase your chances of winning an Unemployment claim:
- Document, Document, Document. The more documentation you have to support your claim, the better.
- Have policies in place that clearly state what is and what is not acceptable. Having an employee handbook, that you can prove the employee knew about, will go a long way.
- Have a comprehensive disciplinary policy and use it consistently. Not only should you have a policy that states what is and is not acceptable, you should have a policy that describes what happens when the rule or policy is violated.
- Ensure your employees are aware of your policies and that they know when they violate them. You must hold your employees accountable EVERY time a rule is violated.
- Give your employees a chance to correct the problem. The key to winning an unemployment claim is proving that the employee knew what they were doing was wrong and they knew the consequences of their actions. Documenting poor performance and outlining the consequences in that document are key.
When appealing a claim, it is incredibly important to provide as much information as possible, with as much supporting documentation as you have. Having a professional, like ALT HR Partners, help you gather this information and ensure that it is complete is always, a positive step towards successfully building your case.