OK, you got suspended for 5 days due to a motor vehicle accident. Maybe you got suspended for going to step 3 of the Regional Attendance Program (RAP). Yes, you should grieve it. But the Company is now looking for ways to make life difficult for you, and the first of those ways is suspensions.

Long ones can be debilitating to you and your family, and the grievance process can take a lot of time before or if you get your money back. However, you have another potential source for some of that lost income. The Maryland State Unemployment Insurance Program (www.mdunemployment.com).

Discharges and suspensions are penalties initiated by the company. The employer is responsible for showing that the claimant’s behavior constituted “misconduct in connection with the work.”

The employee’s behavior must clearly be a willful disregard for the employer’s interest, have a direct adverse effect on the employer’s business and must reasonably be related in time to the act causing the separation.

Essentially, if you’re suspended for the RAP or an auto or truck accident, this most likely would be construed as “Simple Misconduct” and you might be eligible for unemployment benefits for the time you were suspended. It’s not ALL your money, but it is something.

You can even go online and fill out the form (see website above), saving money by not using your car and time by not standing in line.

The Company seems to want to suspend us at the drop of the hat, and we now have something we can use in the short-term to fight back with and hurt them in the pocket book too. There are other ways to get a person’s attention, including getting help, additional training, better tools, etc.

Maybe the Company would rather have their unemployment insurance rates raised? Who knows, but help yourself by filing as soon as you can after you are suspended and start the clock in your favor.