Anyone who finds themselves in a state of unemployment due to any reason that they’re not currently working for their employer, they are eligible to apply for unemployment. You have a right to apply for unemployment. You may not necessarily receive the benefits, but you always have a right to open a claim and file.

If I have been diagnosed with COVID or I have a fever and I’m not feeling well, and I’m waiting for my test results to come in, or have been exposed to someone with COVID and my boss tells me not to come into work. Or I am a responsible person and I tell my boss that I’m sick and I have all the symptoms of COVID, and I’m waiting for my test results. How long do I stay out of work? And if I am out of work, do I receive unemployment, or how does that work?

So, an issue that you may run into when you file for unemployment, is that you go in and you try to submit a claim for unemployment. You became unemployed, for example, on May 13th, and then you attempt to file for unemployment and you see that someone filed for unemployment under your name and social security number on May 5th. And that was not you because you were working on May 5th. What do you do? Well, that is probably a case of fraud. Oklahoma is one of the states that was flagged by the government and the authorities that many claims in Oklahoma were fraudulent.

Traditionally, if you filed for traditional unemployment benefits as an independent contractor, you had to have been denied first, that’s because the employment security commission was unable to find your wages. And then you can go in and file as an independent contractor to get approved. Congress has been saying that July 31st is the last day for those benefits so it’s imperative that you file for those as soon as possible, even if it’s still pending, even if you don’t receive it right away, just get your claim in. If you have any questions, always consult an attorney or the employment security commission.

What’s up with those INC numbers that you receive every time you call the unemployment office and you can’t get a hold one of a level two agent? While the level one agent are about 500 employees that the Oklahoma employment security commission hired after the shutdown, it was entered in March, and they’re there to answer the phones. What can you do?

What is a reason to be denied unemployment by the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission? One of the reasons is that if you apply for unemployment benefits and you state that your reason for being separated from your employment is that you voluntarily quit, that is a reason to deny your benefits. How can you still receive benefits if you did voluntarily quit? So there are several reasons listed through the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission and they state that if you quit for reasons connected to your work, then you may become eligible for benefits.

What are my options if my unemployment application for benefits are denied? You have a couple of options. You can just ignore it, and move on and try to find a job. Or you can exercise your right to appeal the denial of unemployment benefits. You’ll receive a denial letter. On your denial letter, there’s a mailing date. On that mailing date, you have 10 days from that mailing date to file your appeal. That date is fixed, and if you file your appeal after the 10 days it’s very hard to overcome your appeal and to be awarded benefits. “How can you prove that you filed your appeal within 10 days?” Well, the letter gives you a few options for filing your appeal, or exercising your right to appeal. One of the options is to call, they give you the number on the paper.

Oklahoma Unemployment Experts is a law firm focused on helping people protect the unemployment benefits they earned while working for wages in Oklahoma. Recently, ABC Channel 8 contacted to get a better understanding of the current state of the HIGH number of Oklahoma Unemployment Claims.

Our company was asked, “I have not received my card but I have two payments in it”. Okay. So, if that is the incidence you need to contact the Way2Go card company. If you had an old address and you updated it recently, that address, your old one, that’s where the card will be sent to. There’s been a lot of miscommunication there with the card company and unemployment’s address saying. So make sure you go back and look and see where your card was addressed to, and that could fix it. And contact them and let them know, “Hey, I got approved and I still haven’t received my card.”

With everyone trying to log in their system is crashing, the best time to log in is first thing in the morning or late, late at night. I’ve been told if you’re doing it late at night between one to three in the morning, and if you’re doing it early in the morning, start about six o’clock and that you should be able to log in and stuff. If not, go ahead and start calling as well. That way, you get one way or the other either online or by phone. I do know with everything opening back up that they’re trying to get more people in the office so that should be helping quite drastically.