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I applied for benefits and got disqualified. I have a phone hearing next week on Tuesday. Here's my story. I worked for a marine electrician company in seattle for six months. When I started, I was guaranteed that I would be stationed in a shipyard in seattle. I worked there for four months straight and then my boss started dispatching me all over the state for small projects. Since its the nature of the business I didnt mind traveling in WA. In the begining of july my supervisor approached me and asked me to report to a different shipyard about an hour away from my house. He claimed they needed help to finish a project because it was already late and that I was only going to be there for a week or two weeks at the most. Everyday I drove 100 miles roundtrip from my house to the jobsite. Two weeks came and passed and I was there for over six weeks.Prior completion of the project, I called my boss and asked when can I return to my original post since the vessel was leaving for its main destination Alaska the following week. My boss being the shrewd he is, he told me that I will be sent to alaska with the vessel and if I dont go I get fired. I was pissed because before he hired me he knew I cant leave the state since Im a single parent and I have obligations that requires me to be in WA. I worked the whole week and doubletime that weekend and I didnt show up on monday. The boat was leaving that wednesday. So last week when I read the reason for disqualification, the company blatantly lied to the UI claiming the job was leaving for alaska next year. They are pretty much trying to say I voluntarily quit but infact they told me to go to alaska or get fired.
Will you please type in the exact words from the disqualification. I don't want to know your interpretation of them.
You being a single parent and not being able to leave the state are NOT things to mention. Too often UI will focus on the "personal" aspect of the situation and deny for the wrong reason.
Next, a 100 mile round trip may be TOO far away all by itself without having to bring up the Alaska thing.
When I know more about what the deputy got out of the story, I'll give my unexpert opinion as to what you need to do at your appeal hearing. Also, type in what you put on our UI application as to the reason for your quit, what you typed in for your appeal REQUEST, and if there is a letter of resignation that might make it to the hearing, I want to know what that said too.
When you filed for unemployment benefits, you reported you quit you job with .....company.
Your employer stated you quit. You did not give a reason. You just quit showing up for work.
You stated you quit because the following week the job was leaving for Alaska and you had no specific details on how long you were going to Alaska for. You have family obligations that would not allow you to go to Alaska.
Your employer stated the original date for the project to go to Alaska was August 14, 2014. Due to changes to the scope of work, the project wont be going to Alaska unitl May 2015.
REASONING:
Your reasoning for quiting does not fall within the criteria of the law to be considered good cause.
DECISION:
Based on the information provided, you did not have good cause to quit work.
* For my appeal. I wrote that the information given by my former employer is false. I'm requesting a hearing.
Nothing you've said so far has hurt you. However, you do have a proof problem. You have nothing really than a verbal conversation regarding Alkaska and your employer is now lying. The burden of proof is on you, so him saying "not until 2015," and you saying, "Right now,' means that's just not going to be enough.
Your job going to Alaska is a good cause quit, but if it wasn't moving until 2015, then you were supposed to wait until 2015 to quit, and that seems to be the most likely reason that you were denied.
Did you get your hearing notice yet? While I'm not in your state, I hope your notice has wording similar to this, "you also have the right to send relevant written questions to me. I will ask these questions if they are received before the hearing." Use this if it's available to you. Write the judge that this was all verbal that you don't want her to start by talking specifically about AK, but rather, ask questions about the kind of work the employer was going to have you do, and where it would be located. Hopefully, the judge knows that employers pull this crap, will be sympathetic, and will ask the right kind of questions to trick the truth out of the employer.
Hopefully, the employer will be caugh off guard and say things like "things are slow in Seattle," then will have a had time backpedalling by saying he had work locally and could have kept you busy until the AK work in 2015.
Also, think about what you can prove. Any coworkers that will testify from AK to show that they are working there now, any text messages, can you use a Coast Guard website to determine the location of the ship you were working on. Just anything to show that there was no work for you now other than in AK.
Its not a Ship, its a Barge.....so I dont think I can track it. When I left the job it was 85% complete about two weeks left for completion. The reason they wanted electricians in alaska is to do the hook up. So his statement of claiming that the project was postponed for another 9 months is bogus. This company is notorius for trying to rip their former employees their benefits. Management bullies, lies to and manipulates it's workers with; constant threat of layoff or termination relayed through a 3rd party. The job was leaving for on August 14th nobody said anything about May 2015. They've conveniently changed dates to make their case. Knowing this company, I will be shocked if they are present for the phone hearing. They're way too disorganized. I drove 5 to 6 days a week 100 miles roundtrip to help finish the project and now they're trying to screw me over.
If they don't show to your hearing, then it will be your uncontested testimony that can make your case, but it would still be nice if you could get anything to show this job was moving to AK now as opposed to 2015.
You are eligible for unemployment benefits because your work location changed to a location too far away to commute. This is normal standard stuff unemployment deals with all the time. They are well aware of how these things unfold in the ship building/service industry. Under normal situations like this, you would not be denied benefits based on WA regulation.
But, you made a critical error. You did not resign but simply walked off the job. In the eyes of unemployment, you didn't resigned based on a just cause quit, but an emotional personal reason. As such, you are not entitled to benefits.
Now, that doesn't mean you are not able to salvage this. You can. You will need to make a clear and convincing case that your work location changed to an unreasonable location making commuting impossible. It will also help if the employer was providing no relocation assistance during the employment in Alaska. Hat there was no “temporary” aspect of the relocation. You also have to explain the steps you took to preserve employment such as asking for another position or closer work location. You will need to do whatever is necessary to overcome your emotional quit and turn it into a thought out just cause resignation.
The basis of your denial is how you quit; you need to turn that around.
Just wanted to add, in WA your employer is no longer required to prove their position since you made an open admission of quiting. It's now on you to prove your quit was justified. The employer can sit back for now.
I didnt show up to work that monday because I was told the vessel was being painted Sunday and Monday in order to leave on Wednesday. Tuesday morning I get a text from a co-worker claiming that I was fired.
I didnt show up to work that monday because I was told the vessel was being painted Sunday and Monday in order to leave on Wednesday. Tuesday morning I get a text from a co-worker claiming that I was fired.
When did you apply for UI? If it was after Tuesday, you should have said you were fired. Then again, a text from a coworker isn't enough to prove a discharge. You're supposed to confirm that you were fired from someone in authority.
When did you walk off the job? Unless you are convincing that you wouldn't have been allowed to work on Monday and Tuesday, you'll have a problem and need to address that or stay away from the issue as the case may be. If the a boss tells you your job is moving on Wednesday, you're supposed to work right up until the job you had no longer exists. You're not suppose to cut out early. Now, that's how it is in my state, and CA works that way too, but I don't know about WA. Some states take the position that you just aren't eligible for the time you left prior to when you should have, so benefits are just delayed until the orginal effective date of your termination.
Oh, if only you'd have known this beforehand. You'd have done things differently.
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