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Good evening, I am a bit lost at how to proceed with the upcoming hearing I have with my previous employer who is contesting my eligibility for benefits.
I worked as a substitute teacher for the school year 2022-2023 whole year and when the school year ended in June I was unable to continue exercising my position as a substitute teacher due to the Department of Education's policy of substitute teachers only being allowed to work 40 days per school year otherwise the substitute teacher must enroll to college for at least 6 credits on the subject they are teaching, and of course, I couldn't because 1- I would've to pay for that tuition and I can't afford it 2-I would have to continue working while I attend college for those 6 credits. Although my position was that of a substitute teacher I was doing a regular teacher's job (curriculum planning, Lesson plan making, Parent-teacher conferences, grading, presentations, faculty training, etc) which was draining and time consuming leaving me with no additional time to afford taking 6 credits if I were to do it.
The point is, I couldn't continue teaching, so by November when I ran out of my savings and still did not have a job I applied for unemployment and first was denied because "I quit for personal reasons and not feeling prepared to teach/ exercise my position" so I appealed to that explaining how I am not able to continue teaching by the policy of the dept of education of NY. My reason was approved this time and now 2 weeks ago i received the notice of my employer contesting my eligibility. I am now looking for resources and assistance to prepare for the hearing, which date has not been decided yet.
My Questions are the following for whoever can answer them, I will be so greteful;
1)From what I have written above how likely I am to lose the hearing?
2)What happens to the unemployement money i have received so far if I lose the hearing, do i have to pay it back?
3) What documents/information is crucial for me to present for the hearing?
4)Once again, from what I have written above, what can be used against me in the hearing in your opinion?
5) Should i get one of the no cost lawyers to represent me? Will they really represent me with no payment?
Thanks for whoever took time to read all that and comment.
If you argue (and can prove with documentation) that the work they assigned you to do interfered or directly prevented you from being able to obtain the necessary continuing education requirements, you stand a good chance of receiving benefits.
It's your responsibility to maintain the requirement for your profession. Failing to meet the standards is a personal decision thus the "I quit for personal reasons and not feeling prepared to teach/exercise my position" initial determination. But if you subsequently made a case of the employer interfering with your ability to maintain, it's now their fault so you get benefits.
The outcome of this depends on how much evidence you have to support your version and how much evidence they have to support theirs.
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