Progress Illinois

Thanks to some forward-thinking public officials and a push by organized labor to save for a rainy day, Illinois’ unemployment fund is currently flush with cash, as we noted in December. But as commenter Bridget1 mentioned in response to our original post, employer denials make it increasingly tough for the unemployed to receive their benefits.

In 2008 alone, 252,679 of the 872,368 unemployment claims filed in Illinois were initially denied, according to records we obtained from the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). And half of those denials were the result of the employer alleging “misconduct” by the fired employee. Yesterday, the Washington Post looked deeper into what’s driving businesses to put more onus on workers to defend themselves against the charge:

Under state and federal laws, employees who are fired for misbehavior or quit voluntarily are ineligible for unemployment compensation. When jobless claims are blocked, employers save money because their unemployment insurance rates are based on the amount of the benefits their workers collect.

Meanwhile, as the proportion of misconduct claims rises, the only recourse for the unemployed is to muddle through a lengthy appeals process, where they’re often defending themselves against corporate lawyers or management. Last year in Illinois, only 65,940 opted to do so out of the 250,000-plus whose claims were initially denied. Tim Huizenga, a long-time attorney with the Legal Assistance Foundation, tells us that this is a reflection of an “imbalance” in the IDES system.

“Employers have the added advantage of knowing the system,” he says. “Many workers, they only go through it one time in their lives and they’re going through it alone.”

To illustrate her point about the process, Bridget1 recalled the ordeal of a hospital worker who was fired for organizing:

It’s VERY easy for an employer to refuse to pay unemployment and an extremely complicated and frustrating process for most workers. I’m thinking in particular of a woman who was unfairly fired 6 months ago, has been approved for unemployment by the state on FOUR separate occasions and every time the employer appeals the decision [...]

Most workers just give up, feeling the system has failed them.

To make matters worse, the unemployed are only granted 30-minute hearing slots to defend themselves against employer appeals.

As lay-offs continue to increase in Illinois and more employers contest unemployment claims, there is one simple way the state government could ensure that the deck isn’t stacked against the jobless: IDES could expand hearing times and invest more in the legal services budget—which currently hovers around $1 million a year or $1.15 for legal aid per claimant. “There’s not enough funding to provide representation to everyone who needs it,” Huizenga says. “That needs to change.”