Monetary determinations are often wrong because a claimant’s earnings may be under-reported or miscalculated. Review the notice with your client. Find out (1) the amount generally earned per pay period both in the base period and since; (2) how many times your client filed for UC during and since the base period and to what end (you can check the client’s online account, too); (3) whether base period wages are truly the client’s and have been correctly calculated; and (4) whether any employers or earned wages have been excluded from the base period.
In the event of errors, there are some possible means to increase the WBA:
- Supply missing earnings documentation. If earnings were not reported, your client may also want to provide the documentation to the Social Security Administration. If the client does not have any documentation, you can ask the agency to investigate the employer. You can also supply an affidavit or other evidence (e.g., purchase receipts for supplies, texts or other communications indicating work locations or dates, etc.).
- If it would make a client eligible to count wages when earned rather than when paid, the agency can shift wages from one pay period to another.1 This often shifts a paycheck from one quarter to another because paychecks are usually issued about two weeks after the relevant work period.
- The client may still be eligible on an earlier claim (e.g., regular benefits were exhausted and the client didn’t file for extended benefits, or the client was previously disqualified on the merits but should now be requalified with new earnings).
- If the client has recent earnings that are not in the base period, filing a new claim in the next calendar quarter (or even later). This drops the first quarter in the prior claim and adds a new quarter, which may result in monetary eligibility in the future.
- 1La. R.S. 23:1598.