Oregon Unemployment Guide - Oregon Unemployment

Oregon Unemployment Appeals Process

Offering unemployment compensation to eligible jobless workers is the legal responsibility of every state in the U.S. As most of you should be aware, a monetary compensation is offered to claimants on a weekly basis in response to their claim filed in advance. The extent of compensation weeks is determined on the basis of the initial claim filed followed by an interview.

Not every unemployed worker De facto, is eligible for unemployment compensation. The application has to pass through various checks to determine the qualification and the compensation amount. The most basic requirement for UI is that the claimant should be unemployed due to involuntary reasons such as lay offs, company shutdown etc. Whatever the reason may be, there are times when the claim is denied on various grounds. Let’s take you through the various facets surrounding unemployment denial and how you can tackle it in your favor.

Unemployment Compensation Denial

On the basis of the information provided in the claim and subsequent determination, your claim for unemployment compensation may be rejected or reduced at a later stage, owing to various background processes. Just like any other state in the country, Oregon maintains a well laid out procedure to manage unemployment claims. During the course of processing the claim, if one or more conditions are not met, the department will mail an “administrative decision”, communicating the denial.

The letter contains details on why the claim was denied. Based upon the reasons provided in the letter, you as a claimant can decide to appeal the administrative decision on the basis of merits. Remember, this is your right and the same quantum of rights is provided to your employer to appeal allowance of benefits.

Common Reasons for Denial

As stated earlier, any findings which lean towards the separation from the job as involuntary, it would mostly result in unemployment compensation denial. Let’s sweep through some of the most commonly reasons for denial.

Job resignation

If you decided to resign from the job in order to seek better opportunities or any other such reason, your claim will be rejected. Quitting voluntarily is not an acceptable reason and therefore, it does not make sense to file a claim at all.

Fired for misconduct/performance

If you lose the job due to any of the reasons provided in the heading, you will be denied unemployment compensation. Even behavioral issues can go against you when you file. Therefore, under the law, if the employer takes you off the rolls due to reasons which hampers productivity or affects the performance of co-workers, it is not acceptable. It also includes insubordination or refusing to do a task.

Not meeting the monetary requirements

Just like all other states, you should have earned the required income during the base period (last 12 calendar quarters) to be eligible. If you do not primarily satisfy this condition, it may be an outright reject.

Therefore, if the reasons stated in the administrative decision comes close to any of the above, you may not want to appeal since you will not see any changes to the decision made by the department.

Appealing an unemployment denial in Oregon

If you’re not happy with the decision, you must not wait any further to file an appeal. The initial administrative decision becomes final 20 days after it is mailed to the claimant. Therefore, if you do not file an appeal during this period, you cannot do so after expiry of the term. During the process of appeal, you must continue to file for weekly benefits since claims will be settled during or after the appeals process retrospectively.

The mail sent by the Employment Department (administrative decision) contains a form in to be used to request for a hearing (appeal).
Fill the appropriate sections of the form and mail/fax it to the address provided.
Wait for the officials to get back to you further on the details of the hearing including the date.

A typical appeals process would be conducted over the phone, represented by an ALJ (Administrative Law Judge) and would also involve other parties like the employer (if required). During the process, the claimant and other parties would be given sufficient time to present their case, supporting their stance. If you’re a claimant, be sure to take an affirmative approach and present the facts and references to evidence supplied beforehand.

Points to remember

As stated earlier, continue to file weekly claims and fulfill other responsibilities such as providing weekly search reports even if the appeal is pending.
Mail/fax all supporting paperwork/evidence in advance so that the ALJ has the required paperwork to refer to, during the hearing.
Most importantly, be prepared. It’s akin to a court proceeding and therefore, it paramount for you to be ready with facts.

Contact Details

Office of Administrative Hearings (8:00 AM – 5:00 PM)

P.O. Box 14020

Salem, OR 97309

Phone: (503) 947-1515

Fax: (503) 947-1531

Website: oregon.gov/OAH

Unemployed For A Long Time? How to Face a Job Interview

Joblessness is one of the most challenging phases in life. It not only cuts off the monetary supply to manage financial obligations and routine expenses, but can also cause emotional stress if the reason for being unemployed was something unpleasant such as being laid off with a short notice. The phase of unemployment can also provoke domestic issues within the family or lead to indulgence in substance abuse.

It aggravates furthermore if the unemployment continues for an extended phase – Long time unemployment. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor, being jobless for more than 27 weeks is considered as long term unemployment. This situation can be taxing. One can be deeply demotivated for not being able to find a job in a long term which can actually hamper your prospects or affect the enthusiasm to continue seeking jobs. This point holds more prominence when you have back to back rejections during interview.

We’ve collated some points to help you in facing the interview positively, especially during long term unemployment.

Be Confident In Explaining Long Term Unemployment

Go there with a positive attitude and brace yourself to answer confronting questions on being unemployment for an extended time or even perhaps, the reason for leaving last job. Hiring managers will scrutinise your resume and personality to ascertain if you’re ready for the job after a brief hiatus. Give them the confidence to make a decision on hiring you.

Convince them than you’ve been trying hard to look up for jobs and also the onus for rejections in previous job interviews was not your fault. You can probably quote instance of an interview that you attended previously and what went wrong. Do not make it sound like a blame game. Be diplomatic and assertive.

Also give them an assurance that you will be a good recruit and that you can harness previous experience/education to add value to the job if you’re hired

Solid Reasoning on Why You Lost Job

This is probably the most critical aspect. Reason for separation from the last job. If you lost the job due to your fault(such as underperformance), be honest. Do not mask to a great extent or cover up facts. The interviewer will either way find out with your body language that you’re lying. If the job loss was due to voluntary reasons, let them know how you’ve been working to improve yourself and also let them know about any course you’ve undertaken to enhance/add skills to your resume.

If you were laid off, then your job during the process of interview becomes easy. Give them elaborate details of the layoff and talk about your value add’s in the previous company(if any).

Given Them Confidence About Your Industry Knowledge

Long term unemployment may imply that you would slowly be losing the skills, knowledge or the talent for the recruiter. Show them that you’ve not. Let them know about your efforts to stay afloat such as following the latest trends in the industry by discussing with former colleagues, reading news about latest technologies etc.

Tell them about the outstanding tasks that you’ve performed in your last job and how it would add value to the present job profile if you’re hired.

To sum it up, the onus is purely on you to make or break job prospect. Go there are give it your best. Along with your experience and education, finer aspects of personality such as body language, dressing, etiquette and communication is also taken into consideration. Plus, knowing the basics of the company you’re attending an interview for also adds weightage to the discussion.

Oregon Unemployment Insurance Benefits Extension

Unemployment compensation was planned to provide monetary help when workers lose job. The benefits are short term and end when the unemployed recipient finds a new job. If you are having problem finding employment and your assistance is ending, you may be able to get an extension for your benefits. The sum will usually be equal to what you qualified for under regular employment, but the collection period is extended. Oregon State

An unemployment insurance benefits claim comes to an end after 12 months. To find out when your Unemployment benefits claim runs out, review your wage and potential benefits report. The department sends the report after processing your application. It draws your base year – the 12 month period on which your claim is based, recognizes the Oregon employers you worked for in this time and the wages you earned, the number of hours you worked and the benefits you can collect on your claim, based on this work only.

You may be eligible to obtain an additional 20 weeks of benefits. Additional extensions may also be available. Tier 2 offers up to 14 weeks of added benefits. Tier 3 gives 13 weeks of additional benefits. Tier 4 offers up to 6 weeks of additional benefits. Each of these extensions will kick in automatically if you meet the criteria, or you will be contacted by the unemployment office for more information before your extensions starts to happen.

Are you concerned in learning how to file to Oregon extended unemployment benefits? In case you are a laid off worker in the state of Oregon, you will be able to discover how you can claim additional compensation in this article.

Unemployment Benefit Extensions

There are two programs for extending unemployment insurance (UI) benefits.

Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC)
Extended Benefits (EB)

Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Details

EUC is a Federal extension offered by Congress. The first payable week for EUC was the week of July 6 -12, 2008.

Qualifications for EUC:

Unemployment Benefits have Expired

Your base year wages must equal or exceed 40 times your weekly benefit amount. (If your claim pays 26 weeks of benefits, you have met this qualification.)
Your most recent claim must have tired regular benefits or be expired. (If exhausted, your regular claim must tire out with the payment for the week of December 16 – 22, 2012 or before. If expired, your claim must have expired May 1, 2007 or later. )
You can’t be entitled for unemployment benefits on a new claim, or a claim in another state or Canada.
Your application must be filed no later than January 5, 2013, and be effective for the week of December 23 – 29, 2012 or earlier.

The EUC program is broken down into 4 tiers. The minimum number of weeks available in each tier is stated above.

To apply for EUC Tier 1:

You must call your Unemployment Insurance Center:

Portland Metro – 503-451-2400 or 1-877-345-3484

Eugene – 541-686-7800 or 1-877-345-3484

Bend– 541-388-6207 or 1-877-345-3484

If you live outside of Oregon, call 1-877-345-3484.

When you call, be ready to provide the following information:

Your current address and phone number,
Your work history since you last claimed benefits, (be prepared to give employer names, addresses and dates of employment.)
If you worked out of state in the last 18 months, (be prepared to give employer names, addresses and dates of employment.)

You will also be asked if you have:

filed for unemployment benefits against another state since you last claimed Oregon benefits,
changed bank accounts which could have an effect on your direct deposit, Or, kept your ReliaCard. (ReliaCard is a reloadable, prepaid debit card for getting child support payments electronically. It is an alternative option for receiving direct deposit payments.)

EUC Tiers 2, 3, and 4 are added to your claim automatically once you tire out the previous tier, respectively. You do not need to apply for EUC Tiers 2, 3, or 4.

Additional tiers of EUC will not be added to any EUC claim exhausting with payment for the week ending December 29, 2012 or later.

The last payable week for the EUC program is the week of December 23 – 29, 2012, therefore your benefits could discontinue before you obtain the maximum benefit amount of your EUC claim.

Extended Benefits Details

Unemployment Extension Denied The Extended Benefits program terminated with payment for the week ending April 7, 2012. Payments will not be made for weeks beginning April 8, 2012 and later, even though you have a remaining balance on your Extended Benefits claim.

EB is an unemployment extension paid for by both state and federal funds. Oregon set off into an EB period effective December 7, 2008. EB provides up to 20 weeks or 80% of your regular claim’s maximum benefit amount, whichever is less.

EB is disallowed by any EUC benefit eligibility. In other words, EB cannot be paid until you tire all regular and EUC benefits. EB is a claim of last way out.

EB Qualifications:

Your base year wages must equal or go over 40 times your weekly benefit amount.
Your most recent claim must have exhausted regular benefits, or be ended.
Your claim must have an expiration date of May 5, 2007 or later.
You can’t be qualified for EUC, unemployment benefits on a new claim, or in another state or Canada.

Applying for EB:

In order apply for EB; you must call your Unemployment Insurance Center:

Portland Metro – 503-451-2400 or 1-877-345-3484

Eugene – 541-686-7800 or 1-877-345-3484

Bend – 541-388-6207 or 1-877-345-3484

If you live outside of Oregon, call 1-877-345-3484.

When you call, be all set to give the following information:

Your current address and phone number,

Your work history since you last claimed benefits, (be prepared to provide employer names, addresses and dates of employment.)

Have you worked out of state in the last 18 months? (be prepared to provide employer names, addresses and dates of employment.)

You will also be asked if you have:

filed for unemployment benefits against another state since you last claimed Oregon benefits
changed bank accounts which could affect your direct deposit, Or, did you keep your ReliaCard?
a definite date to return to work. If yes, be prepared to provide the employer name and phone number.

Here are some of the frequently asked questions on Oregon Unemployment Extension

What happens when I run out of regular benefits?

If you are qualified for an extension, the unemployment insurance centre will send you a letter recommending you how to file for the extension. If your claim expires while you are receiving regular benefits, you may be eligible for a new claim. If not, then you may qualify for one of the extensions listed above.

If you exhaust benefits for all the extensions available to you, then your only option is to qualify for a new claim.

How will I know if I qualify for further benefits?

When you exhaust your benefits or another extension occurs which you may qualify for, the department will inform you by mail. Please keep the department up to date of your current address. You can update your address in their online claim system.

Can I apply for an extension before my benefits exhaust?

No. If you have regular benefits left over, you should use those first, or have an expired claim, before an extension can be filed.

Can I call now to find out if I may be eligible for an extension in the future?

No. The extensions obtainable start and end at various times. This is decided either through the legislation that created the extension, or by a reduction in the unemployment rate. We cannot conclude your future eligibility until you either exhaust your current eligibility or your claim expires.

I was on an extension and was told I qualify for a new claim. The weekly benefit amount is lower than my extension. Can I stay on the Extension?

Possibly. New language added to the EUC legislation passed in July, 2010, permits individuals under certain circumstances to continue receiving EUC, rather than benefits under a new claim. This piece of the legislation only affects claims that expire with the week ending July 24, 2010 or later. UI Center staff will review your eligibility at the time you are required to file a new claim.

Is there a possibility of more extensions?

Congress or the Oregon legislature can pass legislation to create further extensions. If another extension occurs after you exhaust your benefits, we will notify you by mail if you qualify. Please keep us informed of your current address. You can update your address in our online claim system.