Article Review

Article Review
HRM 599-Benefits

The article I have researched for this article review was written according to the New York Times was about “how a small business owners have problems with unemployment claims and one owner who was surprised when an unemployment claim came across her desk by an employee who had quit more than a year before (Mount, 2011)”. Her company who had hired the employee after the employee’s company had went out of business then that owner rehired the employee after his business became booming again then he went out of business which left that employee unemployed so the owner of the company was responsible for the unemployment claim. Since the owner’s account was put into deficit that threatened her unemployment insurance tax rate even though the employee had voluntarily left her company.
The owner felt that this claim shouldn’t be right and that she would be afraid to hire anyone else. Another employer unknowing of the law hired and then fired an employee without proper documentation leading to the employee obtaining unemployment benefits in which they learned their lesson and had no trouble since they filed the proper documentation. With the current economy in the condition it is in and at the unemployment rate at the time of the article at 9 percent which is really high, smaller businesses don’t understand how the unemployment insurance premiums are computed. With the system it varies by state to state but the owner’s should understand the more claims the more the company pays into the system. With how much the author of the site did research that the federal government charges the organizations a base rate of 0.6 percent of the first $7,000 of an employee’s wages each year.
This federal money that the government gets cover each of the state’s unemployment programs which are loan programs for the state’s that don’t have enough in the unemployment trust funds to pay the said unemployment claims and when the economy hits a downward spiral will extend the current benefits payable to those who are authorized to receive the benefits. The states that don’t repay the loans will owe them $39 billion and the tax rates go up 0.3 percent. While this rate doesn’t seem very high it will affect them in the long run. So the main part of this analysis is by hiring the right personnel and keeping track of their disciplinary and attendance records and making the employees aware that you are counseling them.
The government mandating of unemployment benefits as I learned this week of the importance as a benefits manager to understand not just this benefit but other government mandated benefits. The reason of this importance is the fact that this could hurt your organization with fines, money owed to personnel who didn’t deserve but the paperwork wasn’t done. Each state has its own state regulated law when it comes to the eligibility of an employee receiving unemployment benefits and what the employer must do to prove benefits or not based on the paperwork trail. If an employee has been working for an employer for 30 days that employer must pay for unemployment benefits according to the law. There are certain states that have an at-will doctrine where this allows either an employee or an employer to terminate the employment at any time for any reason as long as it is not a legally protected one such as disability or any form of discrimination and also employees under contract.
The laws and concepts that are covered that would help me in this area of benefit is by researching the department of labor laws, the electronic code of federal regulations which is CFR Title 20 Chapter V which covers the eligibility for unemployment compensation. This regulation covers whether an individual has the ability and is available to work and follows the protocol with each definition. According to my state where I live Texas which is an at-will state where the employers may not discriminate or terminate your employment on basis of national origin, gender, pregnancy, religion, race, age, disability, gender or sexual orientation. Along with termination the law forbids employers from considering these factors in promotions, wages and other job assignments.
While it is important to protect yourself as an employer it is imperative to protect your employees as well so paying the necessary rates for each employee so that your organization won’t face any penalties or fines that would bring discredit upon the organization and hurt your state. What would an employer do if they had no disciplinary or paper trail for an employee who you had wanted to terminate? According to the law and most states, it is very important to first hire the right people and if you feel the need to fire you must do so within 30 days otherwise the employee has the right to obtain unemployment benefits. If the employee voluntarily quits or is terminated due to behavioral problems then they won’t qualify for the government mandated unemployment benefit insurance claim but however if they were unable to perform their duties for any reason then they have the obligation to claim benefits in some scenarios. Based upon this article, the recommendations that I would provide to the business community or employers in this article is that I would first conduct research on laws and regulations on all government mandated benefits such as the unemployment insurance benefit claims and how it will protect not only your organization but also the employee. Then look at the eligibility for individuals in how the claim process works, posting information in the employment break room or other area that will be recommended by your organization. Understanding the ramifications or consequences if you fail to obey the regulations of the unemployment insurance claim but also having a backup plan with management to make sure this doesn’t occur with your employees. If an individual is going to be terminated advise management to have a paper trail. Advising your employees to understand the rules and regulations of unemployment insurance claims and how you fall into the categories in which most employers fail to do so.

References
Mount, Ian. As Jobless Claims Rise, Businesses Try to Manage the Burden of Benefits. (October 19, 2011). Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/business/smallbusiness/managing-unemployment-premiums-in-a-time-of-joblessness.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0, 2013.
Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. (September 12, 2013). http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/retrieveECFR?gp=&SID=81b8b0d57acce509d7ceaafac7dd8d99&n=20y3.0.2.1.4&r=PART&ty=HTML, 2013.

References: Mount, Ian. As Jobless Claims Rise, Businesses Try to Manage the Burden of Benefits. (October 19, 2011). Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/business/smallbusiness/managing-unemployment-premiums-in-a-time-of-joblessness.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0, 2013. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. (September 12, 2013). http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/retrieveECFR?gp=&SID=81b8b0d57acce509d7ceaafac7dd8d99&n=20y3.0.2.1.4&r=PART&ty=HTML, 2013.