Documentation Best Practices
Documentation is a great defense against potentially paying out unnecessary unemployment benefits. Effective documentation can help protect from rate increases as well as UI Integrity fees, fines or penalties. Documenting events as they occur (both the good and the bad) will assist you in the future when/if a separating employee files for unemployment. Documentation of events that may seem minor at the time could end up being key in a future unemployment claim.
Documentation for Voluntary Quit Cases
Get all resignations in writing with the intended last day of work and the employee’s signature. If an employee resigns via text message, make an effort to preserve a copy of the message in the employee’s file.
When an employee resigns verbally, ask that the resignation be put in writing. If you are unable to get the employee to do this, the person that received the verbal resignation should document the details provided by the employee as well as the date and time the resignation occurred.
Documentation for Discharge Cases
When documenting final incident details, include the following:
- Who – Other than the claimant, who else was involved in the final incident? Were there any witnesses to the claimant’s actions?
- What – What exactly did the claimant do that led to the discharge? No detail is too small.
- Where – Where did the final incident take place? Did it take place on or off the work site?
- When – When did the final incident occur? Be as specific as possible with dates and times.
- Why – Did the claimant offer any reason for his/her actions?
Along with all final incident details, it is important to provide any supporting documentation to show proof of the claimant’s actions. Include the policy that the claimant violated along with the signed acknowledgment. As the moving party in discharge cases, you not only have to prove what policy was violated, but you also have to show that the claimant was aware of the policy at the time of the infraction. If the claimant had ever received any prior warnings that relate to the final incident, include those as well to demonstrate that you attempted to work with the claimant to help correct the matter at hand.
Providing Documentation in CaseBuilder
All supporting documentation can easily be uploaded inside of CaseBuilder. The Suggested Documentation link will display all documents the state will need based on the reason for separation entered. Simply click the Upload Documents button to quickly locate and upload supporting documents right from your computer.
Thanks to our partners at Equifax for providing this helpful information.
