While winning an unemployment protest can be tough, it is vital to be educated in case this happens to keep your unemployment insurance costs down. Unfortunately, certain types of employee separations can be harder to win than others. To win these difficult protests, you should follow these tips:

Voluntary Quit

Employees may quit a job for many reasons. However, what is important to remember for unemployment protests is that the employee initiated the separation. To receive unemployment, the employee has to prove that they quit for “good cause attributable to the employer.” Their reasons for quitting must be your fault and follow unemployment insurance laws.

To win these types of cases, ensure you:

• Don’t ever use the words “discharge” or “terminate” in your protests. Always state that the employee quit. If you say you fired the employee, the separation becomes a misconduct case, which is much harder for you to win.
• Include any reasons the employee told you why they were quitting. These help to show what actually happened if the employee has changed their telling of events.  
• Wherever possible, have your employees undergo an exit interview and submit written notice. Having the interview and notice on record helps you prove the employee quit and why.  
• Always include the following words in your protest: “Continuing work was available for this employee.” These words show that you did not prevent the employee from continuing to work; it was a choice they made.

Misconduct

Unemployment claims related to misconduct are harder for you to win. You must prove that you terminated the employee for “good cause attributable to the employee.” You need to collect evidence of misconduct, such as:

• Documentation: If you have done your due diligence, you should have a solid paper trail that shows:
• Multiple incidents of unsatisfactory conduct leading up to termination
• Details of all warnings and reprimands
• Details of the final incident that resulted in termination
• Acknowledgment of work and conduct rules that the employee signed
• Any other supporting evidence, such as drug screen results, witness statements, emails or attendance records

Lack of work

The vast majority of separations due to lack of work or layoffs are not protestable. However, sometimes some components associated with layoffs are. You may be able to lower your payments by showing proof of things such as:

• Severance pay. In many states, you can allocate severance pay to cover a specific period. During that time, the employee is ineligible for benefits or only eligible for reduced benefits.
• Payments after the last day worked. If the employee received payments such as vacation pay or commission after their last day worked, you might be able to claim these payments as wages and reduce unemployment benefits.  
• Out-of-date contact information. If you are a staffing company, the employee needs to update their contact information with you before they can file an unemployment claim. Otherwise, they may not be eligible for benefits.

These tips are just the beginning of the information you need to effectively win unemployment claim protests. For more information that can help you win protests and reduce unemployment costs, please visit us on the web at www.unemploymenttracker.com.