Help Keep Maine’s Unemployment Insurance Hearing Process Free from Political Interference! From 1 to 7 p.m. September 12 in Cross Office Building Room 202, please testify before Gov. LePage’s “Unemployment Reform Blue Ribbon Commission.” Tell the commission that the State of Maine’s unemployment insurance hearing process works. Tell the commission that if anything, after years of funding cuts, the hearing process needs to be better funded to ensure everyone’s rights to due process are respected. Last May, in a flurry of controversy around the unemployment hearing process, Gov. LePage established this blue-ribbon commission by Executive Order. The commission is charged with reviewing the unemployment insurance (UI) hearing process. The commission was asked to identify whether the process is fair and impartial. Despite all the evidence showing that the hearing process is in fact fair and impartial, Gov. LePage still claims employers are being treated unfairly and that hearing officers improperly favor unemployed workers. The public hearing Sept. 12 is the only opportunity for Maine workers to set the record straight and defend the unemployment insurance hearing process from political interference by Gov. LePage. If you cannot take time off from work to testify, then please testify after work. The commission needs to hear from workers who have experienced layoffs or job terminations and who have availed themselves of due process – the cornerstone of the unemployment insurance hearing process. This would include workers doing seasonal work. Please reach out to any affected family members and friends and ask them to testify. The commission also needs to hear from workers familiar with the hearing process. The commission needs to hear that when a worker is fired or laid off, he or she should retain the right to cross-examine employer witnesses – a right that Gov. LePage wants to take away from Maine workers. In addition, the commission needs to hear how years of funding cuts have led to unemployment insurance appeals being heard over the phone, with multiple cases scheduled in the same day with the same hearing officer, and how the hearing officers routinely face numerous challenges in managing their workloads under these difficult conditions. There will be a signup sheet Sept. 12 for those testifying. Testimony will be limited to three minutes per person. If you submit written testimony, bring seven copies. Testimony can be mailed to: 181 State House Station, Augusta ME, 04333-0181 or emailed to unemploymentbrc@outlook. Below are additional important points to make in testimony. Thank you in advance for defending Maine’s unemployment insurance hearing process from political interference by Gov. LePage. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Public Hearing on September 12th – Maine’s Unemployment Insurance System: An Opportunity to Set the Record Straight · Unemployment Law is intended to be Remedial in Nature: Unemployment insurance is intended to meet urgent needs and prevent people in Maine from slipping into poverty when they lose a job. Maine’s law recognizes that “Economic insecurity due to unemployment is a serious menace to the health, morals and welfare of the people of this State.” 26 MRSA §1042. The system is intended to pay benefits during periods of unemployment, “thus maintaining purchasing power, promoting the use of the highest skills of unemployed workers and limiting the serious social consequences of unemployment.” 26 MRSA §1042. This was the intent of Congress when the UI program was created in 1935. At that time, the Social Security Board provided draft legislation to states that provided a model for Maine’s statute. It is critical that any changes made to the unemployment system respect the fundamental purpose of the UI program. · Unemployed Workers Rely on Fair and Timely Determinations: Unemployment Insurance (UI) is a lifeline for unemployed workers. UI provides benefits that people have worked for and earned. These benefits are a lifeline, helping workers and their families by helping to put money in their pockets to help with basic needs while they search for a new job. During the recession we saw an unprecedented 75% increase in the number of unemployed workers; fortunately, UI prevented thousands of workers in Maine and more than 3 million nationally from falling into poverty. UI protected many low-wage workers from homelessness and hunger. It also helped sustain consumer demand during the economic downturn by providing a continuing stream of dollars for families to spend. · Maine’s UI Fair Hearing Process does not Favor Unemployed Workers: Employers are not at a disadvantage within the unemployment appeals process. The fair hearing process favors neither employee nor employer. Both claimants and employers have equal opportunity to make their case and present their evidence. The same rules apply to each party at unemployment hearings. Neither employers nor claimants have an unfair advantage. · USDOL data show that employers and claimants have had similar success rates on appeal at the fair hearing level in Maine. Looking back over the last 10 years, employers and claimants have had similar success rates on appeal at the fair hearing level. Comparing success rates at the Commission level, there is more variance between employer and claimant success rates. Overall, however, employers have tended to have more success on appeal at the Commission level over the last decade. · Maine scores favorably with respect to due process at the fair hearing level. USDOL reviews states’ unemployment compensation appellate processes and rates the quality of their performance. A critical element of due process is that a hearing officer conducts the hearing in a fair and impartial manner and does not demonstrate bias or prejudice toward either party. Maine continues to score well above average on this measure. · Provide examples in which the process worked well for people and both parties were treated fairly and objectively. It will be helpful for the Commission to hear examples in which the process worked well and people were able to get the help they needed. It will also be helpful for the Commission to hear why it is important that decisions are made in a timely manner. · Provide examples of cases in which unemployed workers were arguably disadvantaged at their fair hearing. Many employers are expected to testify about their unfair treatment within the system – help balance the scale by providing some examples in which unemployed workers were treated unfairly.
Posted on: Sun, 08 Sep 2013 18:20:01 +0000
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