Florida Attorney-Danialle Riggins,Esq.

If your unemployment benefits are being appealed- either by you to get them or your former employer is trying to stop them, you will have a hearing.  In Florida, the majority of the hearings are held over the telephone with a hearing referee ruling over them.  The system is set up to be very informal and very employee friendly.

So do you need an attorney?  It depends.  If you are appealing the claim to get the benefits started, then I am more inclined to suggest that you should seek legal representation or at least get a telephone consultation with an employment/labor attorney.  However, if the employer is appealing the claim then the odds of an employee needing representation lessens alot.

First, know that the burden is on the employer  to prove that the former employee is disqualified for the benefits.  The employer has to prove misconduct or voluntarily leaving the position.  PLEASE KNOW that "misconduct" is difficult to prove.  For example, misconduct is typically not proven if the employee has broken a policy once - like being late- or messing up an assignment.  However, if an employee has been reprimanded, warned, written up several times for a violation and then terminated, misconduct can be found and benefits could be denied.  The law favors granting the benefits.

Second, make sure that everything you need to be stated or proven is presented during the hearing.  There are no "do-overs" typically when it comes to the hearings.  The claimant (employee) needs to have all documents, witness statements, witnesses, and any other pieces of evidence ready on the hearing date.  Actually if you are going to use documents, you will need to provide the referee and the employer copies of the documents before the hearing.  Also make sure your witnesses are with you or available by phone on the hearing date.  Several people call lawyers after the hearing and the denial trying to add new evidence for the second appeal.  This will not work.  The second appeal is to prove that the referee errored in his ruling based on the law when the facts/evidence submitted during the hearing are applied.

Third, employers make several mistakes during the appeal process.  One, the employer changes the reason why the employee was fired about two to three times.  Two, the representative for the employer present during the hearing usually does not have any first-hand knowledge of what occurred that led to the termination.  Hence, the version given by the employee is the most credible since he/she was actually there.

Finally, the referee is good at asking the right questions to get to the bottomline. So remember to answer the questions by the referee clearly and concise.  But be careful of what the representative may ask you and do not get upset with them.  Just remember they just do not want to have the benefits charged to its record.  In most cases, it is not personal to the employer like it is to the former employee.  It is just business.

If you were working at two jobs, left due to medical reasons, military, or forced to resign due to the work environment, I highly recommend that you contact an attorney right after you apply for benefits- just in case.  Theses types of claims can be complicated.  So are temporary employee claims.

Good luck and happy job hunting.

Danialle Riggins, Esq.-- Riggins Law Firm- www.Rigginslawfirm.com