A small, quickly growing portion of my law practice involves helping people obtain unemployment benefits or defending employers who are seeking to avoid paying benefits. In these tough economic times, it may be the difference in losing your home or not. I have a tougher time understanding why employers fight so hard, but when an employee is physically molesting your customers and you fire them, it may be difficult to deal with the idea of paying them a salary for the next year.
Despite the reason you may find yourself dealing with unemployment benefits, knowing the unemployment laws and the rules of procedure can be the difference in obtaining benefits or not. Most people mistakenly think the employers have the advantage because they think the department of labor will just believe what the employer says. NOT TRUE. The unemployment laws are actually written to benefit the employee! And it is the burden of the employer to prove their case, not on the employee. And more times than not, the employer will either not be prepared for the hearing with witnesses and evidence of misconduct; will not have proper people available from the company; will not know the law; or will simply not fight the case once a lawyer is involved.
In these tough times, know your rights, hire an attorney, get the benefits you deserve. It may be the difference…