Unemployment Benefits After Arrest.

Unemployment insurance is designed to provide temporary income support for those who have lost their jobs due to qualifying reasons beyond their control. To receive benefits, claimants generally must satisfy several key criteria: they must be unemployed, they must be available for suitable employment, and they must be actively seeking new work.

For an incarcerated individual, this can present an obvious hurdle. While they are undeniably unemployed, incarceration typically makes a person unavailable to work. This unavailable status generally renders them ineligible to receive benefits.

However, while incarceration can present challenges, it is not necessarily the case that an arrest itself automatically triggers a loss of eligibility. An arrest is an event that can lead to many potential scenarios, and it is the employment-related aspects of an arrest and its consequences that are at issue. Even when criminal charges are filed, the determination of eligibility for unemployment benefits is typically made by the state or federal unemployment agency, and this process is independent of the determination of guilt in a criminal court.

The unemployment agency is assessing your status as unemployed, your availability for work, and your active job search efforts. It is not deciding whether or not you are innocent or guilty of a crime. This allows an individual to remain eligible for benefits while facing criminal charges and awaiting trial, provided that they still meet the criteria for eligibility.

But, when an arrest leads to the termination of employment, there are other issues to consider as well. The facts surrounding an employee’s separation from employment can also play a significant role in determining whether they are eligible to receive benefits. While an arrest does not necessarily result in a loss of benefit eligibility, the termination of employment can. And the manner in which an employee is terminated will play a key role in determining whether they qualify to receive unemployment benefits. This is true even when criminal charges are involved and even if the charges are eventually dropped or proven not to be true.

Which Arrest-Related Facts Can Make a Claimant Ineligible?

When an employee’s employment is separated due to an arrest, the specific facts that triggered the separation can play a significant role in determining eligibility for unemployment benefits. Here are some of the key factors that employers and state unemployment agencies will look at:

• What triggered the employee’s separation from the company? Was it the arrest itself, an arrest followed by incarceration, an absence from work that resulted from an arrest, or did the arrest trigger an employer policy?
• How did the employer characterize the separation in documents sent to the state unemployment agency? If an employee is incarcerated, employers can argue that the termination was for failing to return to work after incarceration. Even if a claimant believes they are entitled to unemployment benefits, they will need to respond to their former employer’s claims and be prepared to present their own version of the facts to the unemployment agency.
• Did the employee violate company policies as a result of their arrest and subsequent incarceration? Employers can argue that an arrest-related termination is justified if it was based on attendance violations or an unexcused no-call absence. To determine eligibility for benefits, the unemployment agency will examine the facts that led to the employee’s separation and will determine if these facts support the employer’s characterization of the termination.
• Was the arrest work-related? For instance, if an employee was arrested for a DUI while on the clock, this would give the employer grounds for termination based on company policies or misconduct rules. This scenario can and often does impact a claimant’s eligibility for receiving unemployment benefits after an arrest.
• Was the arrest unrelated to employment? An arrest that was not employment-related can still lead to termination, but not necessarily to denial of unemployment benefits. While it is not independently misconduct, the termination may still be considered to be not for “just cause” in some cases.
• What are the employer’s alleged grounds for denying benefits? While most claimants will need to defend their eligibility for benefits, employers can also be accused of denying the wrong benefits. This can include allegations of misstating wages or providing misleading reasons for termination. In these cases, the unemployment agency will make a determination on either side of the issue, based on the facts it uncovers and the laws at play.

If any of this describes your situation, it is worth talking through with counsel. Spodek Law Group can be reached at 888 348 8028.

When Can a False Unemployment Claim Become a State Fraud Case?

The line between an innocent mistake and an act of criminal fraud is often the intent of the person who made the mistake. If an individual is aware that they are not eligible for benefits, yet they knowingly certify the information required to request benefits, this can trigger an investigation by a state agency’s fraud enforcement unit. In Florida, for example, each knowingly false material certification is its own separate offense. This means that if someone knowingly makes false certifications on each weekly claim for unemployment benefits, this can easily result in numerous counts of fraud. Florida Statutes section 443.071 authorizes the state to prosecute unemployment fraud as a third-degree felony, and the state may also seek other penalties provided by law. Florida Statutes section 443.071 provides that each knowing false statement or failure to disclose a material fact made to obtain or increase unemployment benefits is a separate third-degree felony; it does not establish a $10,000 threshold that upgrades unemployment fraud to a second-degree felony.

California also has strict laws regarding unemployment fraud. The state has a separate criminal code specifically addressing willful false benefit statements, and California Unemployment Insurance Code section 2101 allows the state to prosecute anyone who:

• Makes a willful false statement for a benefit payment, whether false statement or concealment of a fact, with the intent to deceive;
• Receives or attempts to receive benefit payments after knowingly giving a false statement or certification of eligibility for benefits;
• Knowingly fails to disclose, conceal, or disguise a true statement for the purpose of fraudulently receiving unemployment benefits;
• Intentionally provides a false name, Social Security number, or other false identification, as required for securing benefit payments; or
• Gives any other knowingly false statement, or willfully provides false information for the purpose of deceiving an agent of the state.

Like Florida’s unemployment fraud law, California’s unemployment fraud law also subjects individuals to prosecution for each separate offense. As a result, the number of charges an individual can face can grow quickly. Depending on the severity of the offenses, these charges can be brought as misdemeanors or felonies. If filed as a felony, a conviction for unemployment fraud in California can result in an order to serve time in a California state prison, along with criminal fines of up to $20,000.

When unemployment fraud is on the table, it is imperative to have a highly skilled legal defense team promptly evaluate the potential criminal case. The longer a person waits to engage a defense attorney to intervene, the more likely it is that state authorities will collect and review evidence and use it to build a case of criminal fraud. By engaging an attorney immediately, you can increase the likelihood of keeping your arrest out of the courts.

How Should You Respond When an Agency Alleges Overpayment or Fraud After an Arrest?

For example, California law authorizes repayment of overpayments made based on false or omitted information. For a willful false statement or withheld material fact, the state can assess an additional statutory penalty equal to 30 percent of the overpayment.

Repaying an overpayment does not necessarily eliminate potential criminal liability. If the evidence supports a fraud charge, repayment may just be one factor prosecutors evaluate in a fraud case. Additionally, when a prosecutor evaluates a potential unemployment fraud case, it will also look at various mitigating factors, such as any attempts to rectify false or omitted information. Again, early repayment may be a significant factor that works in a claimant’s favor.

While defending against a state fraud investigation, preserving records of job applications, communications with former employers, or any other relevant documentation can help. These records may allow an attorney to show that a person has continued to actively seek work or that their separation from work did not fall under the rules that would affect their eligibility to receive benefits.

• Do you have copies of job applications or interview invites?
• Do you have emails or letters from your former employer?
• Do you have records of communications with a social worker or other services that can provide employment services?
• Can your prior employers attest to your eligibility to receive unemployment benefits?

If you can answer “yes” to any of these questions, you should contact an experienced criminal defense lawyer to discuss your case right away.

• What was your intent? Did you actually intend to deceive the agency?
• Was it a fact or a mistake? Did you knowingly make a false statement, or was it an innocent mistake?
• Does the state have enough evidence to justify charges?

When facing allegations of unemployment fraud, an experienced criminal defense lawyer will carefully review all available information to determine if there is any evidence of criminal fraud. While this could mean showing that an accused person lacked the intent to commit fraud, it could also mean showing that the accusations were factually incorrect or that the state lacks sufficient evidence to justify charges. Once any evidence to challenge the state’s allegations are identified, your defense team will use this information to persuade the prosecutor not to file charges, or a judge or jury to find you not guilty.

Speak With Counsel Before You Answer Anything

If agents have contacted you, the order matters: counsel first, answers second. Spodek Law Group has been practicing since 1976 and defends federal matters nationwide, coast to coast, from offices in New York, Brooklyn, Queens and Los Angeles. Call 888 348 8028.