hourly employee and unemployment insurance

[MichaelSpengler]

Hi, am looking for some advice on how to handle this situation. 

We hired an hourly employee in May of 2020. We told her that the hours would fluctuate between 24 and 40hrs a week. We have a cyclical business were we are super busy July through December and far less busy the other months.

For the last five months, this employee was clocking in between 35-40hrs a week. Now that we are in our less busy season, we told them that their hours will go down as we had discussed when hiring them. The last a couple of pay periods they were at 26hrs a week.

I just found out today that they have files an unemployment insurance claim with the state for diminished hours.

I am not sure how this will impact the payroll taxes I paid or anything with the state, but I am a little perturbed that they filed the claim even though we had told them when we hired them.

Am I making something out of nothing and should I just let it go, or is there a real impact on my business and if so, how should I handle the discussion with them?

Any advice from anyone would be highly appreciated. Thank you!

[crystalimages]

Our company operates seasonally and most of our employees file for unemployment during the off seasons.

So, while I have knowledge of this, I am only trying to give you guidance. I am in no way an expert on this issue.

You should not take anything I say as absolute, but should contact a professional before making any decisions.

Just stating my disclaimer, but I will give you information as I understand it.

As I understand it, every business pays into unemployment when they file taxes.

It may fluctuate depending on how many employees you have and how many and how often any employees file for unemployment. 

There is not an additional tax added on the employee side as far as payroll.

This comes out of their state/federal taxes on the government level.

There really isn't anything you should discuss with the employee, other than maybe asking them to notify you when they plan to file for unemployment just so you're aware. It's their right to do so. If you say anything that could be portrayed as intimidating them to not exercise their right, you could find yourself in a lot of trouble. 

It is the right of any employee to file for unemployment when they are laid off, hours are diminished, or even fired.

If they are fired, they will have a hearing where the employee and the employer will talk to an adjudicator will decide if they deserve it or not depending on the reason they were fired. Filing for unemployment doesn't guarantee they will get it, they have requirements they must meet.

In this situation, whether they were warned hours would drop or not, this is precisely what unemployment is for.

Even if you had laid them off or terminated employment, and they had met the state requirements for unemployment, they could have still filed a claim.

You may want to talk to an accountant or contact your local unemployment office for further details and specific laws.

But I would not say a whole lot to the employee about their choice, how it affects you, or how it affects your future plans.