by Joe
(KY)
My wife had a job for a couple years making good money. Although she got sick of them piling on duties without raising the pay. So she sought and found a new opportunity. It all seemed legit. So after her secret interviews, she decided to give her notice at work. It all played out and she began her new job. Well, the new guy pulled a switch and began paying her in cash. Claiming it was because he needed some time to process things. She finds and books carriers for freight hauling. He was supposed to provide her the freight. He couldn’t back up his claims and basically everything fell through. She was paid once. He owes her still. And he has a book of excuses for stringing her along. He’s basically a big fat liar.
Anyway. She filed unemployment. And because she wasn’t at the new job for at least 10 weeks, they had to go back to her previous employer. So my question is this. Do the circumstances of the second job warrant her collecting off a previous employer? How is that going to work? I am asking you because I feel like I have a better shot at getting a clear answer from you then those incompetent idiots at the unemployment office.
Chris’s Response
Hi Joe,
Hope this isn’t too late to help, but I too can become overwhelmed by questions and coaching. But lucky for you I’ve enlisted some help for both and that help is coming from someone who has extensive experience as an unemployment hearing officer for one of the United States .. which one I’m not at liberty to say.
Here’s his response to your question which I sent to him for an answer.
KRS 341.370(1)(c) provides that no otherwise eligible worker shall be disqualified from receiving benefits for accepting work which is a bona fide job offer with a reasonable expectation of continued work.
There is no authority given to charge an employerâs account when the separation is other than a quitting without good cause attributable to the employment, or discharge for misconduct. Benefits paid pursuant to the quitting to take new work are charged to the pooled account.
(Chris’s Side note: reference to a pooled account means a state’s general fund, from which benefits would be paid from if coming from wages paid by an interested employer, such as the one your wife quit. All employers contribute a portion of paid UI taxes to a general fund that covers benefits when an employer cannot be charged to a single employer’s state UI tax account.)
In short, this claimant may be payable but any benefits payable will be charged to the state’s pooled account and not the former employer. With that being said,this new job sounds a little sketchy making me wonder if it was a bona fide offer of work.
Was this person going from FT work to FT work?
(Chris’s Side Note: I don’t think Kentucky has a part-time worker provision. But you can verify my assumption by using the State unemployment law comparison charts.)
In any event, my initial thought is that this claimant is likely payable but they will have to establish that it was a legit job offer that prompted her to quit her employment; therefore, she needs to establish that she knew what her rate of pay would be, her start date, work hours, job title and responsibilities, and that the job was permanent in nature, etc.
Hope this helps Joe.
And many thanks to the person who answered and is also helping me out if if I ever become overwhelmed with employee coaching requests.
I’m moving this question and answer to those about suitable work.