Unemployment’s misunderstood question

By Steve Gagnon
    With so many Veterans filing for unemployment, I felt it was timely to talk a little about the consequences that can occur when a weekly unemployment claims question is answered incorrectly. This can and does happen far more frequently than you can imagine.
    Anytime you misinterpret, misunderstand or simply check off the wrong box to a single question on your weekly unemployment claim, it very often requires one of our unemployment claims staff to call you at home to find out if you really meant to answer that question the way you did or if you simply misunderstood what was being asked of you.
    If the claims staff has an accurate phone number on file and you are home to answer the call, then the problem is cleared up rather quickly. The worst case happens when no one is able to connect with you by phone. If no one can reach you, the next step requires the claims staff to schedule you for a telephone Fact Finding Interview with one of our claims adjudicators. Depending on your scenario, one of the following could take place.
    First scenario: If you are currently receiving unemployment benefit payments then you are in what’s known as ‘pay status’ and the fact finding will not delay payment of your benefits. However, it will require you to be available for the telephone interview. If, on the scheduled date and time, the adjudicator is unable to reach you to determine, for example, whether you actually meant to say No instead of Yes, then the benefits that were paid to you for the week in question may be denied, an overpayment declared and you may be asked to return that weeks’ benefit payment.
    Second scenario: If you are not currently receiving weekly unemployment benefit payments, you are not in ‘pay status’ and the fact finding may further delay receiving your benefits if you are determined to be otherwise qualified for. In either case, it will require you to be available for a telephone interview to discuss why you answered that question or questions the way you did. As I stated above, if the adjudicator is unable to reach you the benefits that could have or would have been paid for the week in question may be denied and not paid to you at all.
    For the above reasons alone, it is vital you understand exactly what is being asked of you.
    So, without further delay, the most misunderstood question on your weekly claim card is… drum roll please … you guessed it, the very first question.
    When you’re filing for weekly unemployment benefits, the very first question on every weekly claim card is: “Were you able to work full time or attend all scheduled approved training during the week claimed? Yes or No?” As simple as that questions seems, you would be amazed and surprised at just how many different interpretations people will apply to this one seemingly straightforward question.
    What this question is not asking is “Were you able to work full time IF you had a job to go to during the week of the claim or if you have an established recall date or if your employer is calling you back sometime in the future or if you know you’re going back to work for the same employer in the spring and so on and so on.
    What this question is asking is whether or not you were physically able to work or attend scheduled approved training during the week claimed. Period. End of story. Amazingly simple isn’t it? Please don’t read into it any more than that. As with any of the other questions on your weekly claim cards, be sure to keep it simple.
    The same question appears in weekly claims filed via the automated phone service by dialing 1-800-593-7660 and choosing Option 6 or over the internet at www.file4ui.com and clicking the “Online Weekly Claims” link. Just remember, the question just wants to know if you were physically able to work or attend scheduled classes during the week of the claim.
    You can find answers to many of your unemployment questions in the blue handbook you were issued when you first initiated your unemployment claim. If you need or want a new booklet, call or send the UI folks a short note asking for one. They will be happy to send you a new one.
    Steve Gagnon has over 11 years’ of state government experience having worked with the Unemployment Office, the Reemployment Eligibility Assessment Program as well as providing services as a CareerCenter Consultant. His military background includes four years as an aircraft hydraulics mechanic and 20 years as a personnel specialist having retired from the U..S Air Force as an E-7, Master Sergeant.