NJ Non Monetary Claim confusion (work, UI, employee, employment)

[justinmarshall]

I'll try to explain this the best I can and I hope someone here can put my mind at ease.

So I was recently laid off from my job of 14 months because the company I worked for ceased operations. When I filled out my benefits claim a few days ago, it included both my previous job from over a year ago (one I only worked at for 5 weeks) and this one I recently lost. I was fired from the previous job because of a clash with my previous boss for breaking a store policy (I believe I wasn't in the wrong but that's not that important right now). However, my recent layoff is completely out of my control and I was a model employee. Can I end up being denied my unemployment benefits for this second job of over a year because I was fired from the previous short term job? Or does it only depend on my most recent layoff?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me out in clarifying this whole situation. I'm trying to figure out what this issue with my claim could possibly be and this is the only thing I can even figure unless I made a typing mistake in my application.

[Chyvan]

Originally Posted by justinmarshall

Can I end up being denied my unemployment benefits for this second job of over a year because I was fired from the previous short term job? Or does it only depend on my most recent layoff?

Yes, it could happen, but not in your case. You worked at the new job way too long. Had you been there say two months, that could have been an entirely different story.

There is also the possibility of "gross misconduct" that could cause your wage credits from the old job to be cancelled, but that wouldn't necessarily result in a denial, but it could reduce the value of your claim.

Originally Posted by justinmarshall

I'm trying to figure out what this issue with my claim could possibly be and this is the only thing I can even figure unless I made a typing mistake in my application.

Do you know how many people say they were "laid off" and weren't? No one in the UI office believes that any more. They are holding up your claim to make sure that you weren't responsible for contributing to your separation. Do know how many employers tell claimants that they were "laid off" and then tell the UI people the person was fired? Seriously, if you didn't have an nonmonetary interview scheduled, you should have been suspicious that your application didn't go through.

[justinmarshall]

Thanks for easing my mind a bit. I kind of figured it might cancel out any wage credits from the previous job, although I can't imagine it would be much anyway, but it's good to know the chances of me getting totally screwed are slim. As for my previous employer, I can't imagine they'd fight my unemployment claim of being laid off since the entire company went under (Sports Authority). This is definitely a case of me being laid off due to no fault of my own. That's why I was kind of freaked out. Guess I'll just sit tight for a month and keep claiming every week in the meantime.

[Rabrrita]

Sports Authority has filed WARN notices so NJ already knows about this closing. From time to time, the system messes up (or more likely the the clerk screwed up) and see's some negative comment form the prior employer and acts on that without checking the dates and that can slow things a bit but wont be a real issue once corrected.