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On friday I was terminated from my awesome call-center job (sarcasm) because I had my cell phone out. I knew the rule was no cell phones, but I wasnt talking or texting and I received no warning, or, do it again and you are fired type of thing.
Anyways, not that any of you care about that story. MY question is, can I file for unemployment based on this? I have no idea how the process works. I looked it up online but there was a lot of info.
Anyone have any experience with filing for unemployment in NC?
Is there anything else I can do? I'm pretty sure there is nothing else, I know the job was at will and I can be fired for basically any reason (and I was.)
First of all, this doesn't really fall into the R/D/CH local category, so you should get it moved to the NC general forum.
No, you cannot get unemployment. On the NC ESC webpage, the very first sentence under the heading of Establishing a UI Claim" says, "Potentially eligible claimants must have become unemployed through no fault of their own." Not following the rules and getting fired cannot be considered no fault of your own. Sorry, but you aren't eligible for unemployment insurance.
First of all, YES, you can file for unemployment. Will it be approved? It's a long shot, but you still have a right to file. I would recommend that you do so in person at your local ESC office. When you file in person, they will take a fact finding statement from you, basically getting your side of the story as to the circumstances of your termination. The reason I recommend doing this in person is because if you do it online or by telephone, plan on it taking A LONG TIME for you to hear anything back, if ever. Trust me, do it in person.
The day after you file, your employer will be sent a form asking the reason for your separation. They have 10 days to respond. It sounds like they will also say "terminated". When the form is received back, that form plus the fact finding will be sent to Raleigh to the Adjudication Unit. Any separation reason other than layoff/lack of work has to be decided in Raleigh. The timeline for a determination is running about 4-5 weeks right now AFTER they receive everything. If they rule against you, you can file an appeal (you have that right) within a certain timeframe. If they rule in your favor, your employer can file an appeal (they have that right) within a certain timeframe. If you get to the point where your next step is to file an appeal, plan on it taking up to three months to be resolved.
If they rule against you, the result could be a complete disqualification of your claim (for instances rising to the level of misconduct in connection to the work) or a time-certain disqualification - for example 9 weeks - (for instances not rising to the level of misconduct in connection to the work). Misconduct can be drived from policy violations. Violating the cell phone policy, especially a policy that you knew about, could likely be construed as misconduct, however to me, it was not in connection to the work.
If your employer does not respond to the form, then there will be a ruling based entirely on your side of the story. That will still take the same amount of time and your chances of collecting unemployment do not increase just because your employer does not respond.
If you do decide to pursue this, you will want to make sure that you keep up with your weekly certifications. If you file the claim but then don't certify any weeks, they won't rule on the termination issue, and that issue will sit there and prevent possible payment. Of course you won't be getting any payments while the issue is being resolved, but you still must certify each week.
Yes, Unemployment is designed primarily for people who have lost their jobs due to no fault of their own. But I also see instances every day of people who have quit or been terminated being allowed to draw unemployment. Do I agree with that? No. I feel it should be for situations of layoff/lack of work only. But sometimes there are circumstances that warrant being allowed to collect unemployment.
All this aside, you would still need to qualify monetarily to file a claim. You must have earned at least $4,550 in at least two of the four quarters in the base period. The base period is currently the last three quarters of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. If you can't qualify using the base period, you can try to qualify using the alternate base period. This would entail using the 2nd quarter of 2009 instead of the 2nd quarter of 2008.
Thanks jdljr ... I appreciate all the info. ... I was hoping to hear from someone with this type of knowledge on unemployment. Being that it is such a long process I will probably just spend that time searching for a job in hopes that I can find one before then. I was at fault (despite how ridiculous it may be) and so I will just move on.
First of all, I don't understand that if you are fired you can't get unemployment. I have never heard of an employer fire someone because it was the employers fault. I am not sure about NC, but in the other states that I have lived, you can get unemployment if you are fired. How else would you get it. You can't get it because you quit your job. The company that a friend of mine worked for in TN tried to tell a group that were let go together that they couldn't receive unemployment. I have never heard of such a thing.
^^^ Because if someone was fired, it means they did something wrong. Why should employers have to pay (through the unemployment insurance they pay on each employee) for an employee who did something wrong? To take it to its extreme, what if I got fired for sexually harassing a subordinate or defecating on a counter? (Yes, I've seen both of these in different workplaces.) Should I be able to collect unemployment? Not in my world.
First of all, I don't understand that if you are fired you can't get unemployment. I have never heard of an employer fire someone because it was the employers fault. I am not sure about NC, but in the other states that I have lived, you can get unemployment if you are fired. How else would you get it. You can't get it because you quit your job.
Unemployment is primarily intended for people who have lost their job due to NO FAULT of their own (laid off due to lack of work). However, there are circumstances where people who have either quit or been fired MAY be allowed to draw UI. In those instances, it is up to the adjudication unit in Raleigh to determine whether or not they'll be eligible, based on information provided by both parties (employee and employer). It just depends on the situation.
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