I was once let go arbitrarily. I filed. They contested. We went to a hearing.
At the hearing, they claimed they fired me for stealing. I was totally shocked by this claim. They were asked for documentation such as a police report or a witness. They had none. The hearing was found in my favor. It was stressful, but worth it.
Just to update you guys, I’ve been documenting everything and something happened yesterday. A customer called our corporate office to complain about a policy that my boss insisted that I enforce. Turns out the policy goes against our actual corporate policy and they called him to tear him a new one.
He tried to lie and tell them that he never told me that policy except that I had my assistant manager as a witness to it and I also called him right after the policy enforcement to tell him the customer was upset and he said it was fine. He also tried to call me and tell me that I misunderstood him, except I told him that I know what I heard and my assistant manager could back me on it.
I, as well as, my assistant, told our stories to corporate so he (my boss) was caught in a lie.
Today at work he seemed to back off me a bit.
I’m still documenting everything else down to the letter, but I’m happy to see that he got some of his own medicine today. I’m looking for a new job as well as keeping record of your guys advice, so thanks again. We’ll see how things go.
Illegal, I believe. Cite.
Well, I was referring to the appeal after the initial decision. We sometimes decided not to fight a claim if we felt that the appeal would go the same way as that initial decision. But we were a pretty big place and what these kinds of things would do to our ui rate down the road was not always our first consideration.
I recall one occasion when we declined to defend our decision to let someone go because she smelled bad. Little did we know that the shower she took on the day of the interview was apparently going to be her last.
And now for a different POV…
I have been an employer for 19 years now and have pretty much understood the CA UI process to drive my UI rate DOWN towards the 10th (out of 38) lowest Reserve Ratio at 3.3%, where the cap is 6.2% for the highest 17 Reserve Ratio Lines in the UI Tax Rate Schedule this year. The reason why? I know Misconduct when I see it. Many employers don’t, and I suspect that yours is one of them. Out of approximately 100 or so UI claims, I’ve lost only 2 after appeal. This may look like bragging by a big, bad employer, but actually, I’m just big (hearted) and even somewhat loveable employer. It’s because I usually excuse (handslap!) the dumb, accidental and even somewhat lazy stuff, but I DO go after the dishonest, cheating and insubordinate stuff…and with gusto. You do not fall in the later group.
Proof of Misconduct that would disqualify you from UI benefits is the burden of the employer. Just because they wrote you up, doesn’t mean it’s misconduct; they actually have to build a case beyond a “He said, she said” accusation. Keeping notes is good…do not go off of memory, write them down that day ASAP. Always be courteous, no matter who it is…that will always go a long way in your defense and other potential witnesses will see that.
You may also be entitled to partial UI benefits if you were given a demotion/reduction in hours/wage, but I have never encountered that at my business yet, but it seems to be more dependent on a case by case basis.
Thanks for giving a POV from the other side. Too bad I can’t work for you. 