Unemployment Benefits

There has been a rise in the number of applications challenged for unemployment benefits. Makes sense; companies don't want to pay more than they have to and with more people being let go, there are more claims, which reflects badly on the corporation.

I've had unemployment claims challenged before, and have been told that in my state it's very difficult to have the benefits taken away. Companies with high turnover, due to their deficiencies are more likely to try this, even in good times. I haven't had benefits withheld from me and only know one person who has. I'm not sure what happened in that case, as my information was obtained third hand.

Usually it has to be something egregious; mere incompetence or not meeting standards doesn't rise to the level of misbehavior needed. Someone whose family owned a business once told me that she didn't think you'd lose unemployment benefits even if you killed someone. Then again, thinking it through, how would you prove you were looking for a job? Does unemployment take calls from prison? Are you still able to turn down a job, while imprisoned, because it pays less than your last employment?

The change in my state is that when doing contract work, you must contact the agency within five days of the projects end to ask if they have another project. The presumption in the system is that you quit the job but the agency that employed me when I was cut from a project denies that you quit and then pays. Backwards system.