MDNews - Cleveland-Akron-Canton

+++++++++++++++++++++++++ BUSINESS SECTION +++++++++++++++++++++++++ + ++ + ++ + + WHAT YOU DON’T Know CONTESTING UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION CLAIMS By Susan Rodgers tion minefi eld. What you don’t know about how unemployment compen- sation is administered by the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services (“ODJFS”), can hurt your medical practice through increased costs and premiums or attorney fees. Test your unemployment benefi ts knowledge on different situations that regularly arise. 1. If you terminate an employee G immediately after she provides you with 30 days notice of voluntary resignation, she may be entitled to unemployment compensation. True. If normal wages for the entire notice period are not paid, you will need to demonstrate to the ODJFS that the discharge was for just cause to avoid liability for unemployment. 2. If an employee quits her job instead of being fired, she is not entitled to unemployment benefits. False. If the employee can demonstrate that she quit because discharge was inevitable, your practice will need to show that it would have had just cause for the discharge. Otherwise, the employee may be eligible for unemployment benefits. 3. If an employment contract expires ending employment, the employee is not entitled to unemployment com- UIDED BY MYTH and miscon- ception, many an unwary employer enters into the unemployment compensa- pensation. False. The ODJFS generally views non-renewal or expiration of a contract as a “lack of work,” causing the payment of benefi ts. 4. If an at-will employee wants to rescind her voluntary resignation, your practice must accept it. False. As a private employer, your practice is not required to accept an employee’s attempt to rescind a voluntary resignation. 5. If a full-time employee’s hours are significantly reduced, she is not entitled to unemployment benefi ts. False. Depending on the particular facts, this may be considered “partial unemploy- ment” under Ohio’s statutory scheme triggering payment of unemployment benefi ts although she remains employed. 6. Although your practice clearly discharged an employee for just cause, the practice can be responsible for unemployment benefits when she is subsequently laid off from another employer for a reason that makes her eligible for benefits. True. ODJFS will allocate the ben- efits among the accounts of employers in the base period. If this happens, under certain circum- stances, your medical practice can be relieved of charges relating to the employee by requesting that your portion be charged instead to the mutualized account created by the State. Susan Rodger s i s a par tner of Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, LLP and practice group leader for the Employment and Labor Group. n CAN HURT YOU: MDNEWS.COM  JULY-AUGUST 2011  MD NEWS Cleveland-Akron-Canton | 57

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