UCM is proud to announce new improvements to our fully staffed Hearings Department. We are the only vendor to have one the industry’s most venerated UI Legal Consultant heading up our Hearings Department. Lisa Grosz has a team of dedicated employees working to generate winning rulings. This newsletter is dedicated to galvanizing our clients and this department so all hearing decisions are favorable to our clients.
The Three Golden Rules for UI HEARING success:
1. Communication
Rapid Results = Favorable Rulings
Communicating with your representative is paramount to a successful outcome of an Unemployment Administrative Hearing. Busy schedules make Unemployment Hearings inconvenient and quite frankly a nescience; however communication breakdown usually means an unfavorable ruling to the employer. Many Hearings are won or lost by default meaning the appealing party must participate. UCM has requested a hearing by appealing an unfavorable ruling . If you do not attend the hearing the hearing will be held without you in most states.
If you are unable to attend a hearing at the time you are informed by UCM, advise your representative of the conflict. Reopening hearings is an arduous process that require a written response to the Appeals Board. Vacations and scheduling conflicts are mostly rejected as the state will merely rule a postponement should have been requested.
Chose your method of communication. At the time a hearing notice is received by either you or UCM Specialists, the clock is ticking down. The days of having weeks of prior notification are over. Many times two to four days is the standard. This is why the first communication is imperative to make you and the key witness of the hearing available. Inform UCM by responding to this e-mail with your chosen method of communication and updating either a phone number or e-mail.
2. Documentation
UCM Awareness = Favorable Rulings
By forwarding all written documentation relating to the termination to UCM at the time of the claim you will increase your chances of not only winning the hearing but more often than not avoiding Employer Appeals in the first place. If UCM does not have the documentation, it is almost as if the documentation does not exist. It is our proud job to represent you properly. If it is not in our hands we cannot presented it to the state.
The days have passed when the state includes prior documentation in the hearing packet. What we find is that the state sends a hearing notice and has an expectation that all documentation that are be presented (i.e. Written Warnings ) will be sent prior to the hearing to both the judge and the claimant.
It is imperative to not only have written documentation but to also put it in the hands of your UCM representative. If a employee became terminated of an action that required disciplinary action, the action should be documented officially and placed the employees HR file. If you have a verbal warning, written warning, written warning, termination policy, the verbal warning should be documented in written format so it has sustaining validity.
3. The Right Witness
Firsthand Accounts = Favorable Rulings
The employer always has the dilemma of making the decision to send or not to send a key manager to represent at an Unemployment Hearing. The decision should be reduced to the bottom line, is the cost of the claim more important? Is maintaining the Employer Policies and Standard important?
In most cases the answer is YES, so having the employee who saw the act and/or gave the warnings and/or terminated the employee must attend. In some cases, UCM can be a custodian of the HR file and speak on your behalf. The downside is hearsay and conflict of account. IF the claimant represents, your UCM Representative is not a firsthand witness and the firsthand account will prevail.
Having the right person at the hearing will result in the employer’s success.
If you have any questions on the Appeals process please consult your UCM representative.
The information provided in this communication is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal, accounting, or tax advice. The information and services UCM provides should not be deemed a substitute for the advice of any such professional. Such information is by nature subject to revision and may not be the most current information available.