A woman I know had to fire one of her employees, now...

[Mikey P]

the girl fired has filed for unemployment.

She was laid off after a years worth of being given chance after chance to improve here ability to show up on time or show up at all. My "friend" lost count on how many times the employee was given a break (because she was a friend of the family and was really good at her job aside from texting far too much) until the last straw was laid last week when she did not call in until 4:30 to say she was to sic to make here for a 10 AM shift. KMA!

Anyhow the reason for separation on the form is stated as " Attendance and punctuality due to mental illness."

The Boss was only made aware of the girl's supposed mental issues after she was hired when she would blame her new meds for causing her to be late, or a similar excuse

She needs to go to curt to fight this but according to my lawyer, in California the company no matter how justified they are for the firing, only wins 15% of the time in these situations


so...


Any tips on how to up the odds?

 

[KeithCo]

No chance in our state, Mike.

I think 15% is actually a little high.

 

[ACE]

It’s like that here to a lesser extent. Government wants to put the burden of social welfare on employers.
My new policy is to document every infraction and get rid of them fast if they are not going to work out. The longer they stay the harder they hit your account when they file. I would make it easy for a long term employee to resign in writing.

Bogus claims are going to happen. Your friend might have prevented this by taking a better look at the girl’s employment history and checking out her references.

 

[Mikey P]

so..

whats it actually going to cost my friend..?


and for how long...

 

[Ken Snow]

Mike- your friend may be lucky and it cost her almost nothing depending on how many employees she has and how much she has paid into her unemployment account over the years. Only someone familiar with those details can answer that.

If she has a handbook with clear guidelines and progressive discipline built into it she my have a valid case for proper discharge provided the woman did not have doctors note excusing her being late due to her condition. If the woman documented her status and files for FMLA rights (if qualifying) it is not impossible she could even sue to get her job back, but I don't know enough details nor am I am expert in the HR field. Your friend should probably contact an HR professional.

The most important things for the future and any employer, like Ace said is to document improper (texting, being late or absent, whatever it is) and hve a progressive disciplinary process. If your friend just finally fired her with no warnings, suspensions etc., she will almost assuredly lose and unemployment will be awarded.

An employee handbook is another critical thing that anyone with more than 1-2 employees should have, provided they are willing to treat all employees relatively equally when it comes to policies. If you are okay with Bill being absent 5-8 times a year because he is a superstar, but it is not okay for Bob then don't have a policy about attendance.

 

[ACE]

What’s the average rate for UI in Cali?
Here, most new businesses start at 4% of gross payroll and are adjusted up depending on their claims.

It’s super hard not to take the claims personally when you only have a handful of employees.

 

[Shane Deubell]

Pretty much everything Ken wrote, can be a crap shoot sometimes also. I would definitely protest that one, sometimes the ex-employee gives such a bs story to the hearing officer they rule in your favor.

We had a weird year of 3 people filing for unemployment, won 2 and lost 1. Our UI rate will probably go up .5-1 %

 

[Chris A]

I lost one like that this year. Fired the kid because he was a moron, a week later he gets his face bashed in at a party for running his mouth, next week he filed for unemployment due to being let go for "lack of work". I had already hired someone by that point KMA!

 

[joeynbgky]

Your friend should not of terminated her.......because since she didn't show up for her shift........its considered she quit her job.....simple as that....you always wait for opportunities like these, so they don't get unemployment.....but since she gave her that paperwork, and even put mental illness on that paperwork..........she will loose, mainly because of the mental illness. I have fought over 115 unemployment cases and won about 95 of them.

Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Lee Stockwell]

....you should write a book.

 

[Ken Snow]

In Michigan it has to be 3 days no show no call to be considered a voluntary quit.

 

[Mikey P]

Your friend should not of terminated her.......because since she didn't show up for her shift........its considered she quit her job.....simple as that....you always wait for opportunities like these, so they don't get unemployment.....but since she gave her that paperwork, and even put mental illness on that paperwork..........she will loose, mainly because of the mental illness. I have fought over 115 unemployment cases and won about 95 of them.

Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Tapatalk 2

Be a bit more clear...

Who gave who "that paperwork"?

 

[OZONHISOWN]

Uh oh! I think I Just went mental! Where do I sign? Lol
I kid I kid! That's beat!

 

[rhyde]

I don't know about the socialist republic of California?

An employee handbook covering policies and duties such as tardiness & all aspects of the job reviewed with the employee and a agreement signed by them that you keep on file that they have read, agree to and will follow company policy is important and has saved me twice.

 

[hogjowl]

I don't think I could live in California.

Not to mention Mikey lives there.

 

[The Great Oz]

Like everyone else here, I can't answer a question that would require a California attorney that specialized in employment law to answer. The employment office should be able to quote the cost of the claim so the employer can decide if it's worth hiring a pro. If there is no long history of high turnover in the company it might not cost much. On the other hand, if the employee was Canadian, she would know how to work the system to squeeze every dime out for the maximum number of years, so might be worth going nuclear with a defense.

The biggest problem I see is that the employer knew the employee had instability issues before she was fired and the firing has already happened, so now it's about mitigation rather than winning. Again, cost of claim versus cost of legal representation...