I was denied benefits for "Refusing Work" when no actual work was offered. I won my phone hearing, but still being Denied.

by Ricky
(Desloge, Missouri, USA)

I am from Missouri and I worked for a private security company for approximately 1.5 years.
I was told not to come in to work three weeks in a row, because the location I worked at only needed security when there were no employees on the clock, and I was told from my employer that the location would be working constantly in order to catch up on a work-related quota.
My employer then told me "I don't know when you'll be going back in to work, it all depends on when they need security again." and to just wait to hear from them. I called every week for 3-4 weeks in a row, and got the same response, so I waited...
After a couple more weeks of not hearing anything, I heard from a 3rd party that knows someone else that works for my ex-employer that our contract had actually been terminated because of some of the other security guards stealing from the business.
I was never even told this.
I initially applied for unemployment under the context of being "layed-off" only to realize later I had been terminated for "refusing work" that I was never offered.
The employer appealed the unemployment case and I had my phone hearing already. The employer was unable to prove that I was fired for misconduct and also unable to prove that suitable work was offered.
I received the hearing judgement letter a few weeks ago, stating that I was "not disqualified for benefits due to misconduct" and that "the employer had no evidence that suitable work had been offered" and I would not be disqualified on those grounds either.
My unemployment is still listed as Denied-Refusing Work.
Is there something I should know about that I'm missing, or is it just a waiting game for the government to get the ball rolling at this point?


Hi Ricky,

Apparently, some states are turning it into a waiting game. You need to call someone and ask them what the heck???

Other states .. such as Florida are having absolutely no problem telling people they don't have to flip the switch to change a decision from denied to reversed and approved .. until the appeal time runs out on the hearing decision .. It's a bunch of crap .. it's usually just an administrative task of someone changing what a drop down box shows.

Fax your decision if necessary or find out what your next stop would be to lodge some kind of complaint .. most people get action when the call their attorney generals office.

Good Luck,

Chris