Answers Posted By Christina Royer

Answer to if i settled a discrimination lawsuit and a portion was done as wages and balance was considered the pain and suffering would I be rightfully listed as 'self employed contractor' and required to pay all taxes even the employer portion ?

This question is really best answered by an accountant, who can look at your entire tax situation and advise you accordingly.

Generally speaking, though, the portion of an employment discrimination settlement that is allocated to compensatory damages (emotional distress, that sort of thing) should be reported on Form 1099-MISC, in box, which is for "other income." It sounds like this part of your settlement was reported in box 7 of Form 1099-MISC, which is for wages paid to an independent contractor.

Emotional distress damages are generally taxable as income, but they are not generally subject to employment taxes, like contractor wages are.

If you consult with an accountant, he or she can advise you on whether it is possible to rectify this situation and, if so, how.

I hope that helps,
Chris

posted Mar 12, 2015 5:42 PM [EST]

Answer to How does severance pay affect unemployment benefits?

Based on what you write above, I believe your husband's severance payment will preclude him from receiving unemployment compensation.

This is because severance payments are deducted, dollar for dollar, from unemployment payments. Even though the payment will be made in one lump sum, the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services looks at the number of weeks of pay the payment represents (in your husband's case, 52 weeks) for purposes of offsetting.

That means he would not be able to collect unemployment until the period of time represented by the severance (1 year) runs out.

To avoid this result, certain language can be included in the severance agreement, allocating the severance payment to your husband's last day worked.

I hope that helps,
Chris

posted Dec 10, 2013 05:46 AM [EST]

Answer to Can a 2wk notice be required and if not offered wave unemployment benefits

Under the Ohio Revised Code, an employee may not waive his or her right to receive unemployment compensation benefits.

Revised Code section 4141.32(A) says "No agreement by an employee to waive his right to benefits is valid."

Regardless of whether an employee signs a handbook containing this policy, it would not be an effective waiver.

Chris Royer

posted Feb 18, 2011 09:15 AM [EST]

Answer to Is there any way to challenge the state's failure to pay unemployment compensation benefits?

If your wife filed her claim, and her claim was allowed, she should have received paperwork from the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services (ODJFS) relating to her claim.

From there, in order to receive benefits, she should have filed weekly claims to establish her eligibility each week. It is not clear from your post whether she did this.

As a general proposition, claimants who establish eligibility for benefits are entitled to 26 weeks of benefits. Thereafter, if there were federal extension benefits available to her, she would have had to have applied and qualified for those. The federal extensions are now phasing out, but could be renewed, if the incoming Congress agree to extend them.

If federal extensions were not available at the time her claim for benefits under Ohio's system ended, her claim would have been done after she received 26 weeks of benefits, which she had a year to take.

Now, most claimants file their initial and weekly claims online, so she would have received e-mails relating to notices in her online/electronic account, which she could view using her username and PIN, which is mailed out after the claim is initiated.

If she opted not to do her claim online, and/or you moved or there was a mistake with the mailing address (i.e., such that she did not receive the paperwork assigning the username and PIN), that might explain why you never received any notices relating to her claim.

The problem is that, if your wife did not file her weekly claims, she would not be able to collect benefits. A claimant has 21 days to file a claim for each week of unemployment. ODJFS will not extend this time, absent "good cause."

You may want to contact ODJFS and figure out what happened. If she did not file weekly claims and there is a basis to establish "good cause" for failing to file timely, she may be able to receive her benefits.

ODJFS may question why it took you this long to contact the agency to see what happened with her claims, so you may want to be ready to answer that question.

Good luck!

Chris Royer

posted Nov 19, 2010 2:48 PM [EST]

Answer to Is there a way for employers to not have to pay unemployment if they comply with Employment-At-Will?

The Unemployment Compensation Act is designed to provide benefits to employees who lose their jobs through "no fault of their own."

When an employee files a claim for benefits, the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services first determines if he or she is "monetarily eligible" (did he/she work enough weeks and earn enough in the base period?).

Then, ODJFS evaluates the reason for the termination to determine if there was "just cause." The term "just cause" for this purpose has no meaning outside of the unemployment context. There are several factors ODJFS assesses.

Whether the employment is "at will" has nothing to do with whether there is "just cause" for purposes of Unemployment compensation.

Under the "at will" doctrine, the employer may terminate for "any reason, or no reason," but whether the employee is entitled to Unemployment compensation entails an analysis that goes beyond this mere fact.

Chris

posted Oct 27, 2010 07:27 AM [EST]

Answer to IRA WITHDRAW WHILE ON EUC

If you make withdrawals from an IRA, those withdrawals will be deducted from your UE benefits for the week(s) in which the monies from the IRA become payable. If the withdrawal(s) exceed(s) the amount of your weekly benefits, then you will not receive any UE benefits for that week.

However, if you take a lump-sum distribution and re-invest the entire amount within 60 days (i.e., rollover the funds into a different account), the amount of the withdrawal will not be deducted from your benefits.

To verify what will happen, the best course of action is to call your Processing Center, as some Centers deal with these issues, and the fact-finding around them, differently.

Chris

posted Jul 27, 2010 12:58 PM [EST]

Answer to can an employer still appeal an unemployment claim after the first 21 days?

In addition, sometimes the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services will do some additional "fact finding," issue a finding "vacating" the allowance of the claim, and then issue another determination disallowing benefits.

You need to read your notices very carefully to see why the claim is now denied. Also, there is a 21-day window to appeal the denial of your claim, so be sure to stick to that deadline so that you don't lose the right to appeal.

posted Jul 27, 2010 07:49 AM [EST]

Answer to Overtime Question

My first question is whether you are sure you are a non-exempt employee. There are exemptions from overtime for IT professionals, including programmers and other computer-related positions.

I would be concerned that your job duties as an IT engineer render you exempt.

That said, if the employer treats you as non-exempt and actually pays overtime in some form, there may be an argument that the exemption does not apply, and you are entitled to overtime.

Overtime at a rate of time and one-half must be paid for all hours over 40 that you work in any given workweek. The calculation must be done on a weekly basis, not on a monthly basis, as your employer appears to be doing.

You should consult with a lawyer in your area about the specifics of your situation to determine if you are truly exempt from overtime and, if so, if it would worthwhile to try to pursue the wages you are owed.

posted Jul 31, 2009 1:20 PM [EST]

Answer to Change of Payday

when must employers pay employees?

Absent something in your collective-bargaining agreement that speaks to when employees must be paid, there is no recourse under Ohio law to force the employer to give you a check on the Friday payday, if you decline direct deposit.

Under Ohio law, employers are obligated only to pay employees twice a month (15th and 30th). Employers who pay more often than that are choosing to do so. They are not legally obligated to pay more often than semi-monthly.

I do not believe it is discriminatory to treat "direct deposits" differently from "non-direct deposits." Ohio law prohibits discrimination on the basis of things like race, religion, gender, age, and disability. Method of pay does not seem to relate to any of these categories.

posted Oct 31, 2007 3:14 PM [EST]

Answer to negative references, defamation, other

is a negative reference defamation?

Defamation in general is very difficult to prove, and is all the more difficult to prove in the job reference context.

Under Ohio law, there is a privilege that attaches to an employer's communications when giving out job-reference information. "Privilege" means that, even if the words are false nad defamatory, they are not legally actionable because of the context in which they are said.

The privilege can be overcome by showing that the specific, false statements made as part of the reference were made with knowledge that the statements are false, or with "reckless disregard" as to whether the statements are false.

If you believe that you aren't getting jobs because of statements by these past employers, the first step is to find out whether that's true. That may be difficult to do.

Then, if you succeed in determining that that you didn't get a job because of a negative reference (as opposed to the other issues you raise, or something else altogether), you then need to find out exactly what these past employers said and when.

The statute of limitations is very short: one year from the date the defamatory statement is actually made, not when you discover that it was made.

I think it would be very difficult to go after these past employers, but not impossible if you are able to do some detective work and get straight answers from the places that turned you down.

Good luck!



posted Oct 31, 2007 3:08 PM [EST]