No assignment from temp agency for 32 days. I apply for UI. Then... (collect, receive)

[agreen87]

- Temp gig lasts 90 days. I get a good review.

- Temp assignment ends. Agency: "we'll have you working in a few days. Don't apply for unemployment"

- 2 weeks pass and no word from agency. I apply for UI on lack-of-work grounds and get approved immediately over the phone and begin claiming/collecting. I have claimed 4 weeks so far. I'm not sure how my claim was processed without the agency signing off on it first (I did fax in pay stubs to the state DOL) but I suspect it has to do with my having been on UI previously (earlier 2011)

- Day 32 out of work: Agency: "We received a letter that you are attempting to collect unemployment. Please call me in the office to discuss further. I do have a position for you" (exact quote from email). This was the first and only offer of work since the end of my assignment 32 days prior.

I'd be crazy to keep working for an agency that tells me not to collect UI and then forgets to place me for a month. I know that laws vary widely between US states (NY here), but can I stay on UI and not take whatever offer they're about to present to me? Would an administrative hearing be sympathetic to the fact that the agency discouraged me from availing myself of UI and then only contacted me with a prospect after they became aware of my attempt to collect UI?

[I_Love_LI_but]

Originally Posted by agreen87

- Temp gig lasts 90 days. I get a good review.

- Temp assignment ends. Agency: "we'll have you working in a few days. Don't apply for unemployment"

- 2 weeks pass and no word from agency. I apply for UI on lack-of-work grounds and get approved immediately over the phone and begin claiming/collecting. I have claimed 4 weeks so far. I'm not sure how my claim was processed without the agency signing off on it first (I did fax in pay stubs to the state DOL) but I suspect it has to do with my having been on UI previously (earlier 2011)

- Day 32 out of work: Agency: "We received a letter that you are attempting to collect unemployment. Please call me in the office to discuss further. I do have a position for you" (exact quote from email). This was the first and only offer of work since the end of my assignment 32 days prior.

I'd be crazy to keep working for an agency that tells me not to collect UI and then forgets to place me for a month. I know that laws vary widely between US states (NY here), but can I stay on UI and not take whatever offer they're about to present to me? Would an administrative hearing be sympathetic to the fact that the agency discouraged me from availing myself of UI and then only contacted me with a prospect after they became aware of my attempt to collect UI?

Sounds like your agency will be calling you with any crap they can and will report you for "refusing work." (Technically, you are supposed to take whatever they offer you, even same day work, except in cases when the pay is too far below the threshold of your profession's usual pay rate ... there is a formula UI uses depending on how long you have been unemployed.) I also don't think that the scenario you mentioned (they discouraged you from applying for UI) would work in your favor as it is a different issue altogether, plus it is a "he said; she said" and you have no proof of it.

Your best bet is to NOT answer your phone. When they call, let them leave a message. Then, if you want an assignment, call back right away. Hopefully they will leave a message with details of the job they have for you so it is easier to decide. If you don't want an assignment right away, or you don't trust them to give you a decent assignment but suspect they are handing you crap, call them back towards the end of the day so that they will most likely have assigned the job to someone else. If you don't call them back at all, they might report you and cause you problems, so that's why I say call back, but much later.

If you refuse an assignment and they report you to UI, have a good reason for refusing it so that your penalty is only having the UI pay for that 1 day where you were "unavailable" for work forfeited (although it will still be in your UI bank to use for the future if you end up exhausting your benefits) instead of being kicked off UI. Even easier, if they catch you on the phone and you refuse a 1-day assignment or refuse the first day of a longer-term assignment (which they will then have to give to someone else to make money for them), don't claim UI for that day and you will not get in trouble at all (but not be paid either for the day that week).

Good luck! Usually the temp agencies are too scatter-brained to keep up the hunt when it comes to stuff like this, but a few of them are complete sticklers.

PS: Did you call the person who emailed you and said they had a position? If not, you should do so ASAP or it will be considered job refusal if they report it to UI. If you really don't trust them, call them after hours and leave a VM and then play telephone tag for awhile until they get tired of it.

[seain dublin]

I agree with I Love Long Island, especially about the part about calling them back very late in the day when they have filled the assignment or better yet after hours and play telephone tag.

As long as you call them back you're not viewed as turning down work.

I also agree( and this is to your advantage) your dealing with idiots for the most part. They're not going to have the time or smarts to keep worrying about you getting UE benefits.

And next time don't let more than a month go by.

If they don't have something for you after a week, you file.

[moved]

Temp agencies don't like to pay UI benefits. They will call and offer you a job, and when you accept it, they'll do this: The night before or morning of when you're supposed to start working, they'll call you and tell you that you're not needed after all. Then they'll try to report you for refusing it.

[nycpunk88]

I don't know what agency this is or what field you're in, but I know of agencies that have lied to the government (to say that people are working when they aren't) to avoid having to pay UI. One thing to check into is to see if they're committing fraud by lying on your pay stub. Believe it or not, you can report them for it.