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Florida Unemployment Compensation & Administrative Appeals
Attorneys Consulting in Florida Unemployment Compensation and Administrative Appeals CasesUnemployment compensation is designed to provide temporary wage replacement benefits to qualified individuals who are out of work through no fault of their own, such as staff reductions, layoffs and downsizing. Unless the employee was actually terminated for some act or omission constituting "misconduct on the job" or "misconduct related to the work" claimants are entitled to weekly compensation benefits. The term "misconduct" is a technical legal term having specific meaning in Florida law. Employers must be able to show some act or omission related to the specific job that constitutes "misconduct." Employers cannot merely say that the employee failed to follow some company policy, or was late for work too much, or was out sick too often, or did not follow supervisory instructions, or otherwise present similar reasons or excuses and claim them to be "misconduct." However, the state of Florida is rapidly running out of federal and state trust fund money that is collected as taxes from employers and set aside to pay unemployment compensation benefits to qualified terminated employees. This severe financial crunch we all are experiencing is causing many more employers to accuse terminated employees of some sort of "misconduct" to avoid being charged. The financial situation also causing the state agency that administers claims to look for excuses to deny claims initially, and thus force employees to resort to an administrative appeal to get their benefits restored. At The Minnick Law Firm in Tallahassee, Florida, our attorneys provide direct assistance to terminated employees at each step of the process. Our attorneys also provide expert consultation to other attorneys who have clients dealing with all unemployment compensation claims and taking administrative appeals. At MLF we focus our close attention on selected cases for new and existing clients and offer representation and consulting services arising in Tallahassee and in cities west of Tallahassee in the panhandle area of north Florida. Some of the cities where we offer our services include St. Petersburg, Tampa, Lakeland, Orlando, Daytona Beach, Ocala, Gainesville, St. Augustine, Jacksonville, Lake City, Monticello, Tallahassee, Crawfordville, Wakulla, Quincy, Bristol, Blountstown, Marianna, Apalachicola, St. George Island, Port St. Joe, Panama City, Destin, Ft. Walton Beach and Pensacola. Some of the claims intake personnel at the Florida Unemployment Claims Compensation Division apparently are being told initially to deny all claims and let the denied employee file an appeal. This is being done in order to slow the increasing outflow of trust funds due to the increasing number of claims being filed by more and more unemployed individuals. The initial online claims process is quite complex, requiring individuals to answer many new questions that are very difficult to understand but which must be answered truthfully in order to obtain benefits. We believe that most former employees seeking unemployment compensation benefits need some competent help from a knowledgeable attorney before they file their claims online. And if an individual has already filed for compensation benefits online, they may really need the help offered by some knowledgeable attorney working in this very fast-paced complex field of law. Most employers trying to save money are now using lawyers and other unemployment specialists to dispute new claims online, seeking to have the claim denied at the beginning of the process. So unless former employees now seeking unemployment compensation benefits hire attorneys to advise them, the chances of initially being denied increase dramatically, forcing them to take a more-expensive administrative appeal. The Florida Unemployment Compensation Appeal process is very fast-moving, and also very complex when faced alone. However, with the assistance of an attorney at The Minnick Law Firm, the entire claims process can be explained and simplified up-front to ensure that your rights and ability to file for and claim unemployment compensation are fully protected. To learn more about denials of unemployment compensation benefits and administrative appeals of denied claims, including how we can represent, consult or assist you in these matters, contact an attorney at The Minnick Law Firm today. The Minnick Law FirmA Florida Employment, Labor, Consumer Protection, and Civil Rights Law Firm Specializing in Expert Consultation Services for Our Selected ClientsPost Office Box 15588 |  |             |