Here’s the scenario: Not long ago your company terminated an employee because or she violated a rule in your employee handbook, was rude to a customer, said something that you found out was false, or engaged in some other form of misconduct. Or maybe the employee simply stopped coming to work—“ghosted” on you, so to speak—or told you he or she was quitting.
You may have thought that you wouldn’t have to deal with your former employee after his or her last day on the job, but today you received an envelope with a Frankfort postmark. Inside the envelope you found a form letter that is titled, “Notice to Employer of Claim for Unemployment Insurance Benefits.” Next you read that you have just ten days to file your protest, and that you’re allowed just a tiny space on a form to explain “what was the reason for separation.” Needless to say, this is an unwelcome surprise!
Now what? If the reason you terminated the employee was that he or she engaged in misconduct or dishonesty, or voluntarily quit the job, then you may have a strong case to challenge the initial award of unemployment insurance benefits. The award of unemployment insurance benefits is no trivial matter, because they are often charged against your company’s unemployment insurance reserve account. And the amount of money at issue isn’t trivial either: under Kentucky’s current rules, a claimant can receive up to $13,052 in benefits over a 26-week period!
There may be perfectly good reasons why an employer might choose not to contest an award of benefits—especially if they employee was laid off for reasons that had nothing to do with job performance. But the law in Kentucky is that an employee (1) who “has been discharged for misconduct or dishonesty connected with his [or her] most recent work” or (2) who “left his [or her] most recent suitable work . . . voluntarily without good cause attributable to the employment” is not eligible to claim unemployment insurance benefits.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that Kentucky’s unemployment insurance system is tilted strongly in favor of awarding benefits to claimants. Kentucky’s system has a built-in presumption that an unemployed person ought to receive benefits, and the employer faces a steep uphill climb to overcome that presumption.
But it can be done. I’ve done it—successfully—many times on behalf of employers who want to challenge an initial award of benefits to former employees who were terminated for misconduct or dishonesty, quit voluntarily, or simply stopped coming to work.
Having been through Kentucky's unemployment insurance benefits appeals process many times on behalf of a wide variety of clients, I have the know-how and expertise to guide you through an administrative process that can feel confusing and non-transparent. And because I’m based in Frankfort, within walking distance of the building where the Kentucky Unemployment Insurance Commission's offices are located, I can do the work as efficiently and effectively as any attorney around.
Need help? I can help. Contact me right away to get the conversation started.