Collecting unemployment benefits in NYS (New York, York: 2013, gated, severance)

[jazzyj19]

I was rehired by a previous employer who originally fired me in January of 2011. I was given severance pay and then was approved for UB immediately thereafter. I worked temp jobs From March 2011 through September 2011. I continued to collect UB for the remainder of 2011 to mid January 0f 2012. My benefit year ended January 22 2012 but i renewed my claim because it still qualified for 26 more weeks of UE. I received a letter in January 2012 saying what my benefit claim amount was and i have a new claim starting January 23 2012 to January 27 2013.
I worked for them for about a month until Feb 21 2012 . I became ill with pharyngitis and let the office manager know that I had doctor documentation saying I should return to work the following Monday because I worked in an allergist office and did not want to infect patients. The office manager calls me Friday the 24th to let me know that she explained the situation the Doctor that i was sick . He told her to tell me "thank you for your services but we won't be needing you any longer". So i went to certify and it requested information on why was there a break in the claim. I answered the questionnaire and it entered my info for processing but stated that my claim would be placed "pending" while they investigated my reasons for getting fired.

I am now very worried and wondering can my claim be closed and will i lose my benefits because of this?

[Kefir King]

jazzy,
That is somewhat routine.
They are asking the doctor by snail mail to give his reasons for your current unemployment. It doesn't sound like he has any grounds to say that you were "fired for casue" and he CANNOT say you were fired becasue you were sick as that would be in violation of federal law.

Don't worry, all will be fine. It sounds like the normal timeframe for that "break in unemployment" red tape. Give it a week or two.

If the doctor raises a fuss, you simply appeal to an administrative judge who willl find in your favor. You won't lose any checks because they will be paid retroactively to your due date. Keep filing week by week and keep a record.

Just keep saying "I am ready and willing to work"

p.s., You know that you cannot file for any week that you "are sick" so do not mention pharyngitis. Thus if you told the doctor you will be out THIS (2/27-3/4) week becasue of a sore throat you dare not claim for this week.

[jazzyj19]

Thanks!! I was very concerned and you have eased my worry a great dealThanks for the information and I did not file claim for the week i was sick.

[snia]

My goal is to keep this post as uncomplicated as possible, in a somewhat complicated situation. If anyone needs more information, please ask for it.

I resigned from my job as an editor of a weekly newspaper in writing (via e-mail) over a disagreement with the publisher regarding editorial policies which I found to be a moral issue. A few days later, retracted my resignation, also in an e-mail.

I missed no days of work between the resignation and the retraction. Two days after the retraction, in a meeting with my employer and the human resources manager, the publisher said he accepted my resignation. I told him I had retracted it, but he wouldn't budge. This meeting seemed like a termination conversation. Among the things he said were: "I'm not looking to cast blame" and "It wasn't a good fit." I asked "when?" He said "immediately."

The HR manager took me to her office and in the conversation there, admitting she hadn't been around to know the history, she said she would look into my assertion that there was no resignation on the table and let me know what she found out. This was in the first week of September. Since then, I've only received a letter from her, sent by registered mail after I filed for unemployment benefits, confirming my last day of work.

When I filed for unemployment benefits, I went by what my employer said; namely, that he was accepting my resignation. I had no termination letter. I had no copy of the e-mail in which I retracted my resignation. All I had was the resignation letter. So I went by that, giving "conscience" as the reason for my resignation. In the follow-up questionnaire from New York State, I also indicated that there were no other reasons for my resignation.

My claim was rejected. The state said my employer, a publisher, had the right to set editorial policy. I can see that is a valid reason for being rejected.

Now, I didn't ask and I wasn't told, either in the company handbook or in any of the interviews before I was hired, what the editorial policy was. When I found out, I resigned. Then, I retracted my resignation, citing the benefit that the paper provided via its letters to the editor section where I could publish letters of people who agreed with my personal position (not the publisher's) on a controversial moral topic.

In researching this, I found the employer had no valid reason to terminate me.

Should I request a hearing in which I describe the actual situation surrounding my "resignation?"

Alternatively, is there any way I can give a different reason for the resignation (i.e., unaddressed stressful conditions) now that the first one ended up disqualifying me?

Or can/should I file a change of my reason for being unemployed as termination?

I am aware of the resources available to me at: http://www.labor.ny.gov/formsdocs/ui/LO424_4.pdf#page=1

and will pursue getting information from them as I wait for opinions from members of this forum.

Thank you.

[snia]

sorry; I couldn't find the button for a new thread.

[cleasach]

Originally Posted by snia

My goal is to keep this post as uncomplicated as possible, in a somewhat complicated situation. If anyone needs more information, please ask for it.

I resigned from my job as an editor of a weekly newspaper in writing (via e-mail) over a disagreement with the publisher regarding editorial policies which I found to be a moral issue. A few days later, retracted my resignation, also in an e-mail.

I missed no days of work between the resignation and the retraction. Two days after the retraction, in a meeting with my employer and the human resources manager, the publisher said he accepted my resignation. I told him I had retracted it, but he wouldn't budge. This meeting seemed like a termination conversation. Among the things he said were: "I'm not looking to cast blame" and "It wasn't a good fit." I asked "when?" He said "immediately."

The HR manager took me to her office and in the conversation there, admitting she hadn't been around to know the history, she said she would look into my assertion that there was no resignation on the table and let me know what she found out. This was in the first week of September. Since then, I've only received a letter from her, sent by registered mail after I filed for unemployment benefits, confirming my last day of work.

When I filed for unemployment benefits, I went by what my employer said; namely, that he was accepting my resignation. I had no termination letter. I had no copy of the e-mail in which I retracted my resignation. All I had was the resignation letter. So I went by that, giving "conscience" as the reason for my resignation. In the follow-up questionnaire from New York State, I also indicated that there were no other reasons for my resignation.

My claim was rejected. The state said my employer, a publisher, had the right to set editorial policy. I can see that is a valid reason for being rejected.

Now, I didn't ask and I wasn't told, either in the company handbook or in any of the interviews before I was hired, what the editorial policy was. When I found out, I resigned. Then, I retracted my resignation, citing the benefit that the paper provided via its letters to the editor section where I could publish letters of people who agreed with my personal position (not the publisher's) on a controversial moral topic.

In researching this, I found the employer had no valid reason to terminate me.

Should I request a hearing in which I describe the actual situation surrounding my "resignation?"

Alternatively, is there any way I can give a different reason for the resignation (i.e., unaddressed stressful conditions) now that the first one ended up disqualifying me?

Or can/should I file a change of my reason for being unemployed as termination?

I am aware of the resources available to me at: http://www.labor.ny.gov/formsdocs/ui/LO424_4.pdf#page=1

and will pursue getting information from them as I wait for opinions from members of this forum.

Thank you.

The above sounds to me like you were not terminated at all. You quit. The company has no obligation to allow employees to take back their resignation and stay on. I don't think you can collect unemployment if you quit a job; you can get it if you were fired or laid off. As least as far as I know.

I don't think it matters what the reason is. It's not relevant. You told your employer you were resigning/quitting. They accepted that. Then you rescinded the resignation and believe they are obligated to allow you to change your mind. They are under no obligation to do any such thing.

If you request a hearing, they will say "this person resigned from our company. we accepted their resignation. they requested that we allow them to take it back and we declined."

[snia]

Thank you, but I continued working after sending the resignation e-mail, and didn't get an acceptance of my resignation until AFTER I retracted it.

[snia]

...more than 2-3 days after the retraction.

[Kefir King]

How can you NOT have a copy of your retraction of your resignation????
That bewilders me.

That single mailing might have swayed the judge.

I PRESUME you have appealed this decision to an administrative judge?

[snia]

Thank you for expressing your bewilderment.

I used my company e-mail account for the retraction and didn't cc my personal e-mail account as I had for the resignation letter. Of course, after the meeting in which my resignation was accepted and tried to access my company e-mails, my access was blocked.

No I didn't appeal the decision primarily because the reason I was given for the decision makes sense. A publisher has the right to set its editorial policy.

If there is any wiggle room I see in this, it is in the fact that I took the job not knowing the policy.

That said, the expiration date for a request for a hearing has passed...unless I'm able to use the lack of power due to Hurricane Sandy and the enormous stress caused by that event as a reason for my delay. My internet use continues to be limited to a public library.

To reiterate my original questions:

Should I request a hearing in which I describe the actual situation surrounding my "resignation?" Perhaps the court could get a copy of my retraction e-mail?

Alternatively, is there any way I can give a different reason for the resignation (i.e., unaddressed stressful conditions) now that the first one ended up disqualifying me?

Or can/should I file a change of my reason for being unemployed as termination?

Oh, I was given another option in the rejection letter: to reapply after working and earning 1.5 times my current weekly benefit rate.