Applying for unemployment benefits

EagleandBear · February 11, 2015

We have been full timing for 7 years. Two years ago we had some unexpected expenses and decided to work camp. We work camped for Xanterra in Yellowstone for two seasons. When we left Yellowstone last September we thought we had a job in Oregon but the start up date got pushed back to sometime in April or May of this year. A friend recommended that we apply for unemployment benefits.

Since I am getting SSI my wife applied for unemployment benefits and was accepted on December 9th. Two weeks later my she was audited for the week before December 9th and what would have been her first week. She has been actively looking for a job and fulfilled all of the requirements of the unemployment program but there were no jobs in late December and all the businesses were laying people off after Christmas. January has been dry especially because there has not been enough snow for the ski lifts to operate (it is a big deal in this area).

We received notice that they would no longer pay her unemployment benefits. We were told that they could not find certain documents in her file. We sent duplicate copies to them via USPS and Fax along with the requisite protest. Two weeks ago the unemployment office called to say that everything was OK but yesterday we got a notice that we have to teleconference with their “tribunal” next week.

I am 65 and neither of us has ever applied for unemployment benefits.

My questions are:

How common is it for work campers apply for unemployment?

Do the unemployment offices provide a service or do they run rough shod over the applicants to discourage them?

If I want to challenge the unemployment office in Wyoming who do I contact?

Is there an office at the Federal level that has oversight responsibilities for Wyoming’s unemployment insurance program?

Thank you for any information you may have on this matter.

whj469 · February 12, 2015

I don't know if many work campers apply for UI, but yes many employers and the agency that provides IU in Texas, and I would think

other states as well, do all that they can to limit the number of people on UI. The Texas Workforce Commission, the UI agency in Texas,

has an Executive Director who last year lead a session for Texas employers on how to stop people from getting UI. This is well documented and he

stated, following newspaper accounts, that he felt that was his job!

A few years back I was asked to provide technical assistance to the State of WY regarding employment and job training and I would think

after meeting with a number of the states largest employers that they wouldn't be much different then Texas. I could be wrong but I don't think so. Good luck

Kirk W · February 12, 2015

You have to qualify for unemployment benefits, the same as most others. Because they are run by the states, I know of no state that you could move into and then immediately start to draw benefits based upon a seasonal job that has ended, in a different state. I can tell you that when we moved from WY to Texas, Pam left her WY job because of our move and it took some time to find a position in TX and so she applied for unemployment benefits from WY(which was where her employer had paid into them) and she did receive them until she found a new job. It was not long, perhaps a month of two but they were very helpful and sent checks to our TX address.

As I see it, the problem is that the previous job was seasonal and probably didn't pay into the unemployment fund and so their employees are probably not eligible for payments. We did not find the WY office at all difficult to deal with. Of course, that was 20+ years ago.

How common is it for work campers apply for unemployment?

I can only recall having heard of that one previous time and the way it came about was that the individual was denied on the rule that it was temporary, seasonal work. The thread was begun because the person was unhappy about this and seeking some assistance. That thread was a long time ago and is the only such discussion that I remember having seen.

wa_desert_rat · February 12, 2015

It has been 50 years since I applied for unemployment but I have had employees who left my employ and applied so I have a little familiarity with the process; at least in WA state.

Most states key unemployment with "looking for work". In WA you must be able to work and ACTIVELY looking for work. They do not want you attending college, on vacation in Hawaii, or working under-the-table for your uncle bob. They really want you out there pounding the pavement, checking the Internet, and hitting up your network of friends to find work.

I suspect this is what they want to talk to you about. Just have a good explanation. They don't expect you to be applying for jobs as nuclear physicists after a summer of being a campground host, but they probably will want to see some evidence of looking for (and applying for) similar work.

So what happens if they deny your unemployment? Well, I once had an employee who got into a snit and quit - and told me she'll be laying on a beach in CA on my nickel just before she stormed out. When she applied for unemployment she stated that she left because I had cut her hours to the point where she could not make enough money to live. I appealed it. I used numerous calendars of working hours for all the employees which she made (she was a department head) in her own handwriting as evidence that she was responsible for working hours, not me. She lost her case.

But she didn't have to pay back the unemployment funds she had received. Instead, the next time she applied for unemployment (in WA) they would withhold the amount that the adjudicator determined was unfairly received (in her case, only the amount she received during what should have been a waiting period... which, since she says she left "for cause" she had not had to go through).

So they probably won't ask for money back.

But it's a bureaucracy, after all, so your mileage may vary...

WDR

whj469 · February 13, 2015

Receiving out of state benefits that were earned in another state is a little different then receiving UI in the state were you earned them.

BarbW · February 14, 2015

I recommend that you contact Xanterra's HR department at Yellowstone. Nearly all Yellowstone employees are seasonal and at the end of the summer season, Xanterra gives everyone information about how to apply for unemployment. I assume they would not do this if they were not paying into the system for their employees.

BarbW

We have been full timing for 7 years. Two years ago we had some unexpected expenses and decided to work camp. We work camped for Xanterra in Yellowstone for two seasons. When we left Yellowstone last September we thought we had a job in Oregon but the start up date got pushed back to sometime in April or May of this year. A friend recommended that we apply for unemployment benefits.