refused work on unemployment (fill, UI, state, telephone)
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I have a telephone interview because I refused an offer of work. Here is what I am going to tell them. Will I lose my benefits? I just started UI a few weeks ago.........
Initially when I certified for my benefits I said I refused an offer of work. I was actually given an interview. I was never given off days or hours. I was told that I was being considered for the position along with others. On Saturday, December 1, I sent an email to ------ asking them to remove me from consideration of the position. I did not know what constituted an offer of work but nonetheless I did not want the job.
I was laid off on November 16. On Saturday November 17 I filed for unemployment online. I also found an online application on the ------ website. I was told by a friend that his brother worked there and he was getting around $18 an hour. So when Sylvia , HR manager for ------- called me on Monday or Tuesday I was asked what my salary requirements were. I told her between $14 an hour and $17 an hour. I had been making $17.84 at Hostess. She said fine and she would give my resume to the supervisor. Then I get a call for an interview with Mike for Wednesday the 28th. I show up and Mike says it will be freezer work on a stand-up electric forklift using an RF scanner. I ask him what the job pays. He first says "I don't know". Then later he says about $16.50. He then asks me if I ever used a stand-up fork or an RF scanner. I tell him I used a stand-up fork one time and never used an RF scanner. So he takes me out and asks me to get on the forklift to see what I can do. A supervisor has me drive it around a couple of garbage cans and move a skid. I didn’t even know how to use the controls. So I drive around slow and herky jerky, move a skid after hitting the rack and nudge another skid when I put the skid I was moving back to where I got it. Mike and the supervisor look at each other and shrug their shoulders. Then we go in the freezer for about five minutes. Mike asks me if I could work in that for twelve hours. I tell him “I think my ears are falling off”. Then on the way out Mike tells me he needs to get someone hired on ASAP in order to cut down on the extra days and overtime. Then I talk to Ed who is the manager and he tells me the pay is $10.62. Not the $14 to $17 I was lead to believe. Nor the $16.50 Mike told me. I also observed how fast the drivers were moving. I could never drive that well in one week. I was told by a man I know who drives in a freezer for Jewel that it would take you ‘years’ to drive like that. It seemed to me that Mike wanted to get anyone hired in order to fix his overtime problem.
I was then emailed about taking a physical and asked my uniform size that Saturday. I then emailed ------ asking them to remove me from consideration. I can in no way work on that equipment in that environment and do what they asked. I would have either hurt myself and/or others using that forklift. I have thirty years of experience on a sit down forklift and maybe thirty minutes tops of using a stand up forklift. I have zero experience in that environment and with that equipment. I would be a hazard there. I thought it would be inside a bakery. Not a freezer. I wasn’t expecting nights. I waited three days to withdraw from consideration because I was afraid that I had to take any job offered me on unemployment. But I cannot work where I honestly feel I am a hazard to myself and others.
You aren't required to take a position at almost half your former pay so early in your unemployment, nor outside your skill set. What state are you in? Just tell UE the work offered was not at all similar to what you had done previously or could do well, and pay is too low.
You aren't required to take a position at almost half your former pay so early in your unemployment, nor outside your skill set. What state are you in? Just tell UE the work offered was not at all similar to what you had done previously or could do well, and pay is too low.
Thank all of you for the info. Now I have a phone interview Wednesday. Should I stick to a few relevant issues or should I give the long version that I posted originally? The version I posted is what I am sending to IDES as they requested all relevant and additional info as to why I refused. IOW what should I mail them as an explanation and how should I handle the phone interview? I've been employed for thirty years. This is all new to me. In Illinois, are the UI investigators looking to find a way to deny you benefits or try to find a way to keep from denying them to you? Or do they tend to stick to a narrow field per the law as they deal with this every day?
The version I posted is what I am sending to IDES as they requested all relevant and additional info as to why I refused. IOW what should I mail them as an explanation and how should I handle the phone interview?
Don't sent what you posted. Don't bury Illinois with a lot of unnecessary words. No need to get into all the minutia of how cold it was, the conversations, etc. You went on the interview expecting a certain salary range, not clear on the job duties. You did a test run on some of the equipment and didn't do very well because you had no experience on this equipment. On X date you were offered a job to do X work at X rate of pay. Since pay and job were outside your skill set and previous wage, you declined. Period.
Quote:
Originally Posted by butkus51
This is all new to me. In Illinois, are the UI investigators looking to find a way to deny you benefits or try to find a way to keep from denying them to you?
Yes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by butkus51
Or do they tend to stick to a narrow field per the law as they deal with this every day?
The initial interviewer will not think outside the box. If there is any question, they deny. The appellate venue deals with the nuances of the UE Code as it is applied in Illinois.
Butkus, you have a VERY simple situation, here. You were recently unemployed. You were offered a job outside your skill set and salary range. You declined. That's your situation in a nutshell. Don't clutter up these issues with unnecessary details. Keep it simple. This is a very clear cut situation. You should not be getting a denial.
Last edited by Ariadne22; 12-08-2012 at 01:23 PM..
Don't sent what you posted. Don't bury Illinois with a lot of unnecessary words. No need to get into all the minutia of how cold it was, the conversations, etc. You went on the interview expecting a certain salary range, not clear on the job duties. You did a test run on some of the equipment and didn't do very well because you had no experience on this equipment. On X date you were offered a job to X work at X rate of pay. Since pay and job were outside your skill set and previous wage, you declined. Period.
Yes.
The initial interviewer will not think outside the box. If there is any question, they deny. The appellate venue deals with the nuances of the UE Code as it is applied in Illinois.
Butkus, you have a VERY simple situation, here. You were recently unemployed. You were offered a job outside your skill set and salary range. You declined. That's your situation in a nutshell. Don't clutter up these issues with unnecessary details. Keep it simple. This is a very clear cut situation. You should not be getting a denial.
My wife already mailed the letter. I didn't know she did. But I will stick to the main issues you stated. This is new to me. Fortunately the interview will take place long before the letter arrives. Thanks.
I have a question as to what constitutes a job offer. As I posted, I have a phone interview with IDES for 'refusing an offer of work'. But on the questionnaire there were questions about hours and start time and off days. I was given none of that. So I sent it back and answered those questions "none". Fill me in on what kind of questions I will get from IDES on this issue.
IDES is trying to determine if you, in fact, had a "job offer." Since hours and start time and off days were not discussed, it was not technically a job offer. You may have been offered a position with pay, but without the other specifics, it does not constitute a job offer in its strictest sense. Just tell Illinois the truth, without embellishment. Keep your answers simple.
Again, the reality is, even if it is a job offer, it is outside your skill set and pay range - which at this point in your unemployment you are within your rights to refuse.
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