- November 30, 2015
- Posted by: Andy Scheu
- Category: Human Resources
We get many questions regarding employer’s responsibilities in terminating an employee and the Tennessee Separation Notice requirements.
As the Notice states, employers are required to provide the terminated employee with the Separation Notice within 24 hours of termination. The easiest way to do this is to give the individual the Notice when they are going out the door for the last time as once they have departed, it is probably going to be very difficult to provide that individual with that Notice.
You can find the Separation Notice here.
The purpose of the Notice is to inform the Dept. of Labor and Employment Security information regarding that individual’s employment termination to be used in determination of qualification for unemployment compensation. Certain circumstances such as firing for legal violations, failure to meet attendance requirements, or a violation of employer written rules disqualifies an individual for unemployment insurance (UI). Other circumstances, such as a layoff due to lack of work, qualify the individual.
The State uses information provided to them to determine eligibility for UI. Unless they receive information from the employer stating otherwise, chances are they are going to rule in favor of the individual receiving benefits because they are going to be relying on that individual’s information when they file for UI.
The State will send a notice to the employer with their UI determination and indicating that they will be drawing from the employer’s UI account. The employer has 10 days to respond with valid, provable reasons why the claim should be denied. Any claims on the employer’s UI account will most likely increase the employers UI rate in the future. This is why employers should not ignore claim notices from the State if they feel the terminated employee is not eligible. This is also why the employer should provide the employee with a Separation Notice as it clearly defines for the State why the individual was terminated.
In 2012, Tennessee passed Senate Bill 3659/House Bill 3429, which requires the Department of Labor and Workforce Development to implement an Internet-based system that allows employers to receive notices and to submit separation information electronically.
