FML

[chez_jae]

My temp assignment ended on September 9. I waited until the 27th of September to apply for unemployment benefits. As a temp, there are certain guidelines I need to follow to remain eligible for benefits, including checking in with my agency once a week.

Just so you know, the amount of benefits I get every two weeks on unemployment is approximately what I was making in one week while working. So yeah, it sucks. However, I am beginning to suspect the only company that my temp agency deals with in my area is the insurance company that I "timed out" of in September, meaning they won't be able to place me there again until the first of the year.

They brought up a possible job in a city I've been to once in my life. It would be nearly an hour's drive one way. I declined it for that reason, and now my agency is challenging my eligibility for unemployment.

This, coming on the heels of no one returning my calls for the weeks that eventually led up to my applying for unemployment.

So, now I have a "hearing" scheduled. It's to be a phone interview, but I believe I'll arrange for an in-person interview. When I signed with my current agency, I filled out paperwork, in which I specified "distance willing to travel" as 25 miles. I can produce my copy of that at the hearing.

While I feel confident about my chances, there's still a possibility that I could have my benefits terminated. And, let's face it, this isn't a situation I ever wanted to find myself in. I sure don't need this stress on top of everything else.

Comments

Re: :(

[chez-jae.livejournal.com]

What really rubs me the wrong way is, why didn't my temp agency say, "You do realize that by turning down work, we can challenge your unemployment benefits?" At which point, I could have reminded them of my 25-mile radius in my contract, let them know I spoke the the legal department of the office of employment security BEFORE I even signed up for benefits to discuss such things as commute (in which I was told the standard commute for our area is half an hour, not the 50 minutes it would take to get to Dixon). Basically, all this drama could have been avoided.