Check your Mail over the Break
by James Ezell
I know everyone is looking forward to some well deserved time off this Christmas, but I must issue a cautionary message to make sure you protect yourselves from needlessly paying unemployment claims because of missed deadlines. If the district is idle, then chances are that you’ll have idle employees too. And what do idle employees do? They file unemployment claims, warranted or not.
December is one of the peak times for filing unemployment claims at school districts for support and auxiliary personnel. Because of the extended time off, you may miss a deadline to respond to a notice of an unemployment claim, a determination to pay benefits, or notice of a telephone hearing.
Why is this the peak time for employees to file claims? If school is not in session, neither are your employees. If they’re not working, they’re not earning money. If they’re not earning money, then they’re filing for unemployment. This is particularly true for hourly employees, who file the bulk of unemployment claims between school terms. While most school district employees do not file claims over the break, enough of them do file to make it worth a little extra diligence in checking for and responding to notices from the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). Even if your mailroom staff is off work or you’ve put your mail on hold at the post office, that doesn’t stop the flow of mail from the TWC. If they sent it, they expect you to pick it up.
Keep in mind that according to the TWC, workers are eligible to receive unemployment benefits if: 1) they are not fired for misconduct, and 2) they didn’t voluntarily quit. In essence, Christmas break is treated as a temporary work stoppage, which is the same thing as a layoff. Since their job ended through no fault of their own, they’re eligible to file. The only thing preventing your employees from receiving unemployment benefits over the break is your response to the TWC that includes that person’s Letter of Reasonable Assurance to show the TWC that person is supposed to come back to work when the break is over.
Here’s an example of a common situation: many districts have their last day before the Christmas break around Friday, December 19, 2009. Most are returning the following year on Monday, January 5, 2009. What if the TWC mails you a few notices of new claims during the last days of school, and no one is checking the mail over the break?
Those documents will probably reach your mailbox two to four days later while you’re out. As with all TWC documents, you have 14 days from the date something is mailed to respond. If something is mailed on December 19, the 14th day from that date is January 2. If you do not respond before the deadline, or if you’ve placed your mail on hold and don’t pick it up until January 5, you’ve lost your opportunity to respond or appeal any decision made against you, even if it’s obviously false or incorrect. No amount of explaining to the TWC will excuse you for not picking up the mail and responding.
Stopping your mail is not an excuse to the TWC as a reason for failing to respond. The TWC has no way to know that you placed your mail on hold. When the TWC mails you something, it is presumed that you received it three days later. Additionally, if you have any telephone hearings scheduled over the break, you must call in and participate. Being away on a break is not considered good cause to miss a telephone hearing. The TWC is open for taking claims and conducts hearings 52 weeks a year. This includes the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
The bottom line is that you must continue to pick up your mail over any break from school. You might not have to do it every day, but please check it at least once a week while you are out. If you need assistance or further explanation, call James Ezell at 800.482.7276, extension 6258.
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