Noncovered employment is a fancy phrase used by unemployment auditors and employers to prevent applicants from collecting benefits in Minnesota.
In other words, any person trying to appeal and collect benefits in Minnesota should never offer evidence supporting a non covered employment classification.
Allow me an opportunity to simplify.
Covered versus Noncovered Employment
Minnesota has a simple rule: anybody who tries to collect unemployment benefits in Minnesota after having a job classified as “non covered employment” looses.
For this reason, arguing the opposite is a favorable strategy. An opposite job classification is covered employment.
When I meet with people who are confronted by this issue, they are often surprised that Minnesota even makes such a distinction. For this reason, I encourage applicants trying to seek benefits to learn about Minnesota statute 268.035. Personally, I think this is especially important prior to meeting with an unemployment law judge (ULJ).
Thus, there is a huge difference between covered and noncovered jobs in Minnesota.
Noncovered Employment: Legal Strategies 101
When I review appeals for applicants seeking advice, more often than not the employee tries to convince me that their job wasn’t non-covered.
To be honest, I believe this is a poor argument. Instead, I think a stronger strategy is helping applicants prove that their job was “covered” employment.
Your Least Favorite HR Person
Employers argue in favor of classifying jobs as non covered jobs because it helps reduce their unemployment taxes.
For this reason, applicants appealing their unemployment benefits are usually unprepared when discussing their job duties with a judge and having their least favorite human resources representative shred their job requirements.
Look, applicants cannot get scared. I believe acquiring benefits is critical to the process of reducing stress so a person can focus on their job search. Fighting an evil HR person doesn’t help matters, which is why I think acquiring evidence is important.
Evidence for a Noncovered Job
When I strategies with a Client, I like to help them pinpoint the following:
- Job duties,
- Past job postings supporting job duties,
- Comparing job classifications to other internal workers,
- Asking auditors for feedback on other classified workers,
- Organization charts,
- Handbooks, and
- ** Determining which Job Level was the decision maker.
Of course, every job and employer is different. But, they can become very beneficial when disproving negative evidence used to undercut employees.
If you are working through this issue, please consider contacting me directly. Otherwise, I wish you the very best.
