[UpNAtom77]

Hey everyone,

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile..just really need to vent a little, if anyone has any shoulders I could cry on (or paper bags I could hyperventilate into ) it would be much appreciated!

The quick update is: the other co-workers I'd had issues with in the past? They were laid off in June as part of a statewide layoff in our company, leaving me the only one in my program, in my office. So I worked solo for awhile, and that was going well, until the state cancelled our contract (for all of our 7 offices) and laid all of us off on Nov. 30th.

This was a company I had worked continuously for for over 5 years, in two different programs. The very next day I went to my local career center where I filed an unemployment claim (I had actually worked with some of the people there through the job I was laid off from, so they met me at the center and took my claim on paper) and registered for job service. Prior to filing the claim, my contact punched my SS# into the computer to check how much I would be able to claim each week, and said that it was only showing one quarter of work!! She checked a little further and found a second quarter, but under a wierd listing (My last name and first initial all together). The other quarters I worked aren't showing up at all for whatever reason, even after looking under my SS#. She said that she would take my claim and get back to me later on about doing a wage request to find the info on the other quarters (which apparently can't be done until I have an unemployment claim in the system).

I was given specific instructions by my contact to do my first weekly certification today. However, when I went into the system to do so, I was told that the system had no record of me and that I could not certify for a check. I can't get ahold of anyone at the customer service center (they're not open today), or my contact (her phone isn't working, saying that it's disconnected--and I'm not sure if she checks her e-mail on the weekend). I am very fearful that I'll lose my "window of opportunity" and won't be able to get unemployment, or that I won't be able to get it in time to pay our bills.

I feel that I'm about to have a mini-breakdown, and have bawled most of the morning out of pure fear and frustration...first being out of work, and now these problems. I'm apparently the only one out of all the layoffs to have trouble like this as far as filing goes, and I have no idea what happened.

Has this happened to anyone else out there?? If so, what did you do?

Hello, UpNAtom77. So sorry about the snafu. Hope it is resolved expeditiously. Good luck.

[Rohag]

Hi, UpNAtom77! I've had to fight bureaucratic battles before, but nothing so urgent. When I had to fight those battles, I was in no condition to take them on all by myself; I got help. Even with help it wasn't pleasant, but at least it wasn't impossible.

Perhaps you could search for your state's "Department of Human Services"? That might eventually lead you to people who can help you with your specific set of circumstances.

[turquoisesea]

good luck with this, I have not been in this situation so no advice but it sounds crazy

[UpNAtom77]

Thanks, everyone. I am going to be making some calls tomorrow and see what I can find out (I still can't get ahold of anyone today). I just feel so lost...like I did everything "right" before and after my layoff and am still getting the shaft

It really concerned me earlier that a huge chunk of my past work isn't showing up under my SS#--and now this. I really worry if it will affect if I can get unemployment at all, and what the hell happened to cause the problem in the first place. Even if it was something as simple as a typo somewhere, lord only knows how long it will take to find and fix it. If they hadn't found the second quarter under the wierd name arrangement, I couldn't have even filed the claim to begin with.

I also worry that it will affect my future employment; if someone could look and see that I didn't claim my benefits and assume that I was fired for doing something wrong, which certainly was NOT the case.

I just don't need this kind of stress right now

[UpNAtom77]

Hey all,

Sorry I hadn't been on to post for awhile...I'm happy to report that I got the certification issues worked out. As for the missing wages, I've filed a report with the state about that and am currently waiting for them to get back to me.

Now, if I could find a good job, that'd be the cherry on top!

Again, THANK YOU all for listening and allowing me to vent! It helped tremendously.

Hang in there, UpNAtom. Thanks for letting us know what is going on.

Good luck.