More Work for Unemployment Compensation Lawyers in the Near Future?

By James W. Cushing
Special to the Legal

When one applies for unemployment compensation benefits, there are generally two potential opponents: the claimant’s previous employer and/or the Department of Labor itself. Obviously, an employer can oppose claims for unemployment compensation benefits on bases such as the claimant voluntarily quitting or being fired for willful misconduct. However, even if an employer takes no action to oppose a claimant, the Department of Labor can. For example, the Department of Labor can oppose a claim if, upon its review of a claimant’s application for benefits, it appears that the claimant would be ineligible under the law based on the claimant’s own representations on the application. Unfortunately for claimants, it appears that the Department of Labor will be scrutinizing their applications closer than ever in the foreseeable future.

According to a recent article in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Pennsylvania’s unemployment compensation fund was in the red by approximately $300 million in 2011. Although currently trying to borrow money to meet the current demand for benefits, legislators in Harrisburg are now searching for ways to close the gap, and due to the current political climate, raising taxes does not seem to be among the options being considered. Instead, one of the solutions that is gaining some traction is to withhold benefits from claimants who are not very “attached” to the economy. In other words, earning the bulk of one’s income over a very short period of time may cause issues with one’s eligibility, as there may be a preference for more evenly compensated employment over a longer period of time. Of course, this potential change would likely affect the underemployed more than others, as they tend to work shorter-term jobs.

Regardless of how the Pennsylvania Legislature resolves the unemployment compensation fund’s solvency problems, its desired result is to reduce the number of eligible claimants by 10 percent, or approximately 50,000 people. This will potentially affect unemployment compensation practitioners, as each denied claimant will have the right to appeal his or her denial to a hearing before a referee and beyond. Of course, claimants can be represented by an attorney to help them through such appeals and/or hearing appearances. Therefore, these new changes could also potentially increase the unemployment compensation practitioners’ caseload by up to 10 percent as more claimants may retain them to litigate the increasing number of adverse decisions against them by the Department of Labor.

James W. Cushing is an associate at the Law Office of Faye Riva Cohen and research attorney for Legal Research Inc. He is licensed to practice law in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Comments

[Tyler agent]

Thanks for the post, and I've been looking for a good workers compensation layer and I came across http://leifericksonlawoffice.net and I wanted to get a second opinion on them before I gave them a call.

[jakejohnson]

What does a workers compensation attorney do? Someone told me that I need to get one and I am not sure what they do all that much.

[Suzy Frame]

Thanks so much for sharing this information! I have been looking into minnesota workers compensation attorney and how they might be able to help me! Can you tell me where to find more information like this? Thanks!

[Intel Xeon E-5 Processors]

It's my firstime to see some of the post and I really enjoyed reading very informative thanks.

[Affordable Alaska Hunting Trips]

Interesting post I hope all lawyers read this any ways thanks for the info.

[Seattle Auto Detailing]

thank you for the guidance,. it will help a lot

[Seattle DUI Attorney]

you got an interesting topic. thanks for sharing..

[Shanna White]

Great insights. I really do think there will be a greater need for minnesota workers comp attorney in the future. (http://www.workcompmn.com/workers-compensation)

[EmmaCay]

Thanks for sharing. I'm looking for a workers compensation attorney in Seattle, WA. Can you help me?

[Tyler agent]

Thanks for the post, and I wanted to know what everyone thought of http://www.fosterstaton.com because I wanted to get a second opinion on them before I made an appointment.

[lily kurter]

Thanks for the post, and I'm afraid that I'm going to lose my job in the near future, so I'm planning ahead and looking for a workers compensation lawyer now. And I came across http://www.johngeeattorney.com and I wanted to get a second opinion on them.

[Binary Options Guide]

If you are an employer, you would always be on the search out for in which you could enhance the business that you do the job for.

[Jack Mason]

Thanks for this post. It's always important to have a good workers compensation lawyer because you'd be lost if you didn't have one. Think of all the red tape you'd have to go through by yourself!

[Workers Compensation Lawyer]

Thanks for sharing this. I've really come to appreciate this line of work. I know a good lawyer who's made some great changes in people's lives.

[Minnesota Worker's Comp Lawyer]

Interesting post! Thanks for sharing. I've been interested in this type of thing lately. I hope it actually turns out well!

[dallas internet lawyer]

Thanks for the post, and this is kind of a random but still some what relevant question to the topic of workers compensation lawyers. But how many people out their that try and abuse the system?

[Bill Shields]

It would just be easier to get a (http://www.malatch.com) workers compensation attorney. They would help with your current job, not in the process of getting a job. My friend found one in Minnesota, and ended up getting a little more money. Though I guess that could just be my opinion.

[Liam Manning]

I appreciate the information, thanks for sharing it. I've been looking up as much as I can about workers compensation attorneys. I really want to find the best one. Do you have any suggestions? I was looking at this site: http://www.meyerpuklich.com/workers-compensation.html, what do you think?

[workers compensation lawyer]

Thanks for the post, and this is kind of a random but still some what relevant question to the topic of workers compensation lawyers. But how many people out their that try and abuse the system?

[dallas trademark attorney]

I agree with this blog writing that the more offers and scopes for compensation lawyers in future.

[Dallas Trademark Attorney]

Thanks for an amazing put up, especially as it contains information I haven’t read before….!

[Workers Compensation Lawyers in California]

I agree with this blog writing that the more offers and scopes for compensation lawyers in future.

[digital options]

Difficult times for all of us. Anyway, great article and thanks for all these explanations.
Now post it non-exclusively to Associated Content so folks will actually get a chance to read it.