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Employment Services
Questions
Q
How does the Department for Employment
Services
recruitment process
work?
A
When an employer lists a job vacancy with
the Department for
Employment Services (DES), the minimum requirements for the job
(regarding education, training, experience, etc.) as established
by
the employer are entered into the Department’s computerized data
base.
The automated computer system compares the requirements of the job
to the qualifications of the job seekers who are registered with our
agency
to create a list of
qualified applicants. Those identified are
contacted about the job opening
and the job seekers who are interested
in the job are referred to the employer for an
interview.
If the employer
is not satisfied with those referred, there is no obligation to
hire
them. The job opening can
remain open until the right individual is
referred. Recruitment can be
performed locally, regionally, statewide or
nationally according to the
employer’s wishes.
Q
How can I list a job opening (job order) with DES?
A
An employer can recruit
applicants through the Department for
Employment Services (DES) by listing a job opening (job order) with
one
of our 27 field offices or numerous branch offices located across
the
Commonwealth. A job opening can be listed by submitting an
on-line
job order form via the Department’s Internet web site,
or sending
a job
order form by fax, or calling the nearest
DES office.
Q
Does DES charge a fee for services provided?
A
No.
There is no fee to
the job seeker or the employer for basic job
matching services provided by the Department for Employment
Services. These services are funded from a small portion of the taxes
paid by employers pursuant to the Federal Unemployment Tax Act
(FUTA).
Q
How does DES screen applicants for jobs?
A
The Department for
Employment Services (DES) screens applicants by
comparing the minimum requirements of the job opening as established
by the employer to the qualifications of job seekers who have
registered
for work. DES staff utilize an automated system to assist in the
screening process to identify qualified individuals to refer to the
employer.
Q
Where do job seekers registered with DES
come from?
A
The Department for
Employment Services has the largest data base of
job seekers in the Commonwealth, and through our relationship with
other state employment service agencies nationwide, we are a part of
the largest data base of job seekers in the nation. Anyone who is
legally
qualified to work in the United States may use the services of the
Department for Employment Services to seek employment. Job seekers
registered for work with DES come from all walks of life, from the
highly-skilled professional to the unskilled laborer. Some are
veterans
who are transitioning from the military to the civilian workforce;
others
have been laid off due to plant closures after working many years at
their previous jobs; others are working full-time but seeking better
pay
or benefits or are interested in a career change; and some may have
never held a job before.
Q
Are all job seekers registered with DES drawing
Unemployment
Insurance
(UI) benefits?
A
No. Generally, only
about a quarter of all job seekers registered for
employment with the Department for Employment Services (DES) are
Unemployment Insurance recipients. The number of Unemployment
Insurance recipients registered for employment with DES has grown in
recent years as the American economy has changed. Unlike in the
past,
the majority of workers can no longer expect to work for the same
company throughout their working lives. As a result, more are taking
advantage of the Unemployment Insurance program to help them make
the transition from one job to the next.
Assisting UI
recipients
to obtain suitable employment as quickly as possible
is one of its
primary
objectives of DES. Doing so is in the best interest of the job seeker, the
employer, and the community.
Q
Are job seekers required to apply with jobs if they are drawing UI?
A
Unemployment
Insurance (UI) recipients are required to be able and
available for and to seek and accept offers of "suitable
employment."
They are not required to accept jobs that are significantly
different in
pay or job duties from that to which they are accustomed. However,
the
definition of "suitable employment" is tenuous and changes
as the
duration of one’s unemployment lengthens. Therefore, UI recipients
may
be required to lower their expectations as the length of their
unemployment extends. Unemployment Insurance recipients who refuse a
referral to employment from DES or refuse to report to an interview
to
which they were referred or refuse an offer of employment that
results
from a referral made by DES risk losing their eligibility for UI
benefits.
Q
How do job seekers apply with DES?
A
Generally, a job
seeker will visit one of our 27 field offices or numerous
branch offices located across the state to register for work with
the
Department for Employment Services. Under certain circumstances, for
example when a new business needs to take mass applications, DES
will
make its application-taking services available off-site. Eventually,
it will
be possible for job seekers to register for employment via the
Internet;
however, this capability does not exist at present.
Q
What is the going rate for the job I’m seeking to
fill?
A
The prevailing wage
rate for a job varies from one area of the state to
another. For advice regarding the prevailing wage rate for the job
you
are trying to fill contact the nearest Department for Employment
Services field office or utilize the
Labor Market Information
on our
website.
Q
How quickly can I get referrals after I place a job
order with DES?
A
It
depends on the number of job seekers registered with DES
who are qualified for and interested in the job. Your job listing is
entered
into a computerized system and made available to all of our offices
as
soon as the information is input. DES staff utilize an automated system
to identify job seekers who's qualifications match the job opening
and
contact them that day if possible. Thus, the employer may see referrals
the next day, and sometimes even on the same day.
However, if the job
is highly skilled and there are no qualified job
seekers registered with
DES, or those who are qualified are not interested
in the
job (for
example, if it pays less than the prevailing wage rate for
similar
jobs in
the local economy), it may take longer.
Because DES makes
your job opening available on the Kentucky Job Bank
and America's Job Bank. You will also benefit from the newest trend
in
conducting job searches today, the internet. This allows DES
to recruit
for your job opening locally, statewide and nationally.
Q
How do I know which DES office to contact?
A
Generally, it is
best to contact the DES office nearest you to place a job
order. To determine which office is nearest you, see the DES Field
Office
Directory.
Q
Is recruitment for my job opening performed
locally, statewide
or
nationally?
A
Generally,
recruitment is first performed locally. If no qualified applicants
are available locally, then your job opening will be placed on
America’s
Job Bank, which makes it available to job seekers statewide and
nationally. However, DES will recruit locally, statewide or
nationally
according to the employer’s wishes.
Q
Can DES provide me with a place to interview
applicants?
A
Yes.
Most DES field
offices have space that they
can provide to employers on a temporary or occasional basis for
interviewing job applicants. Availability may be limited in some
offices.
Q
Does DES provide any testing?
A
Yes.
DES can administer
a test to determine a job seeker’s math, reading
and language skill levels, and an array of tests which includes typing,
data entry, 10-key, grammar and spelling. DES can also administer
an
employer's test.
Q
Does DES do drug screening for companies?
A
No. Due to
liability issues connected with drug screening most employers
prefer to handle this internally.
Q
How can I find out about hiring the disabled, minorities,
females, etc.?
A
DES does not
discriminate on the basis of race, sex, national origin,
religion, disability or age in the referral of job seekers to job
openings
listed by employers. However, an employer who because of a court
order
must use affirmative action in recruiting applicants who belong to
certain
protected groups may list an affirmative action job order with DES.
An
affirmative action job order indicates that the employer is making a
special effort to recruit applicants from those groups covered in
the
court order.
Q
Where can I get a language interpreter (sign or
foreign language)
and
who pays for the service?
A
DES is required by
the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to make
reasonable accommodations to ensure that all of its services are made
available to persons with disabilities on a fair and equitable
basis. The
Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing maintains a
directory of individuals who will interpret for the deaf for a fee.
Local DES offices may also have the names of individuals in the
local area
who will interpret foreign languages for a fee. If the service is
provided for the sole benefit of a particular employer, it is the employer’s
responsibility to pay for the service. Inability to speak the
English
language that is not due to a physical or mental disability, that is
because one’s native tongue is not English, is not a disability
covered by
the ADA.
Q
I need help in providing reasonable accommodation for a
disabled
employee. Do you provide this
service?
A
DES is willing to
provide whatever assistance we are able and qualified to
provide; however, DES staff are not experts in the field of making
accommodations for persons with disabilities. It may be that the
state
ADA Coordinator, Pamela Wallace, or Department for Vocational
Rehabilitation staff are better able and more qualified to provide
the
assistance you need. Ms. Wallace may be contacted by calling
(502)564-3548, ext. 274 or by visiting the Department for
Vocational Rehabilitation web site.
Q
What notices/posters are Kentucky employers
required by law to
post in
conspicuous places, and where do I get
them?
A
Mandatory
Federal Posters are:
Employee Polygraph Protection Notice
Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission/Age Discrimination
Family and
Medical Leave Act of 1993
Federal
Minimum Wage Notice
Occupational
Safety and Health Act – OSHA
Mandatory Kentucky Posters are:
Child Labor Law
Equal Employment Opportunity
Safety and Health Protection on the
Job
Unemployment Insurance Benefits
Wage Discrimination Because of Sex
Wage and Hour Laws
These posters may be
obtained from the various state and federal
agencies that are specifically
responsible for each particular area.
However, the Department for
Employment Services will provide any or all
of them as a service to
employers free of charge. Contact the nearest
DES field office
http://www.des.ky.gov
or Brad
McGill in the DES
Central Office at 502/564-7095 or
from our web site.
Q
What tax credits programs does DES offer to
employers?
A
The Department for
Employment Services administers the federal Work
Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) and the Welfare-to-Work Tax Credit
(WtW) programs and the state Unemployment Tax
Credit program
(UTC). In addition, DES helps employers take advantage of tax
credits
available to those who start or expand their businesses in state
Enterprise Zones.
Q
Can I get information regarding equal
employment
opportunity (EEO)
from DES?
A
General advice regarding
equal opportunity in employment may be
provided by local DES staff or the
Department’s EEO Officer, Danny Hollon
(phone: (502)564-7456). However,
the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC) is better qualified to
provide such information. The
phone number for the EEOC Office in
Louisville is (502)582-6082.
Unemployment Insurance
Questions
Q
What
is the current UI benefit rate?
A
$39.00
minimum to $365.00 maximum per week
Q
How is the
UI tax rate figured for my company?
A
While
there are many variables in tax rate computation, simply put it is
the amount of taxes paid into a reserve
account for each employer, minus
the amount of benefits paid. However, tax
rates are not based solely on
the reserve account balance. Instead a
reserve ratio is computed which
compares the size of the balance to the
size of the total amount of
taxable wages reported by the employer
during the twelve (12) calendar
quarters preceding the computation date.
The rate is determined from a
rate schedule set forth in statute and
available on our web site.
Employers
in the mining and
construction industry may have higher rates in spite of
the reserve ratio and account balance.
Q
Can a
person draw UI if they quit?
A
Assuming
the claimant has sufficient wage credits to establish a claim, he
or she
may be qualified to receive benefits if they voluntarily left
their
employment with good cause
attributable to the employment and there
are no other
eligibility issues present.
Q
Can a
person draw UI if they are fired?
A
Assuming
the claimant has sufficient wage credits to establish a claim, he
or she may be qualified to receive benefits
if they were
discharged for
reasons other than misconduct connected with the work and
there are
no other eligibility issues present.
Q
How can a
person draw UI from me when they were fired from another
employer?
A If you
are the most recent ten (10) week employer on the claim and the
worker left your employment under
non-disqualifying conditions or you
failed to file a timely protest to
the initial claim for benefits, then you
may be charged for the benefits.
Q
How can
this person file for UI when there are help wanted signs
everywhere?
A
An
otherwise eligible claimant is entitled to receive benefits, unless
he or
she is unable to perform suitable
work; is unavailable for suitable work or
has refused suitable work. In part,
suitable work is determined by
examining the degree of risk involved
to the worker’s health, safety and
morals; the worker’s experience and
prior earnings; the length of the
unemployment and prospects of
securing local work in the customary
occupation and the distance of the
work from the worker’s residence.
Simply because there are plenty of
available jobs, does not mean that
they are suitable for each claimant.
Q
How long
and how much money can a person draw in UI benefits?
A
The maximum
is twenty-six (26) weeks provided they draw their full
weekly benefit amount. A worker may draw benefits
for more than
twenty-six (26) weeks if they are partially unemployed and
receive partial
benefits. They cannot receive more than the 26 weeks times
the weekly
benefit amount on one claim. The maximum for one claim is
fifty-two (52)
weeks, irrespective of the amount of benefits
drawn per week.
Q
If I fire an
employee for absenteeism is he or she eligible for UI benefits?
A
If an
employee’s absences amount to misconduct connected with the
work, they will be disqualified. Generally,
good cause for missing work, is
not misconduct. Simple numbers of days or
percentages of lost time
cannot show a worker is guilty of
misconduct.
Q
What do I
do if I want to contest a claim?
A
You
should file a written protest setting forth the reasons for
separation,
and do so within ten (10) days from the
date the claim was filed.
Q
What do I
do if I don’t want to contest a claim?
A
You do
not have to do anything. A lack of response suggests that you do
not wish to protest. However, if you file a
written response indicating that
you do not wish to protest, the Division of
Unemployment Insurance will
not contact you for a statement.
Q
Where can I
get the UI tax ID number?
A
Contact
us by email at des.uit@mail.state.ky.us
or by postal
mail at the Division of Unemployment Insurance Status
Branch. P. O. Box
948, Frankfort KY 40602
Q
Why do you
need the tax ID number?
A
So
that the Division of Unemployment Insurance can accurately credit
tax
payments to your account and keep track of
payments charged to your
account.
Q
How does
the Automated Benefits Exchange System (ABE) work?
A
The
ABE System, often referred to as the VRU, uses a touch-tone
telephone
to allow a claimant to claim their weeks or request the status of their last
week claimed. Week
Claiming is available on Sunday from 2:00 PM until 9:00
PM Eastern
time and Monday - Friday from 7:00 AM until 7:00 PM
Eastern time. The Last Week Claimed Inquiry is available Tuesday
through Friday from
7:00 AM until 7:00 PM Eastern time. This system offers
the claimant the
availability of a faster payment. In about the same amount
of time it takes a
claimant to
fill out their pay order card, address it, and take
it to the mailbox,
they can enter their weeks for payment over the telephone.
It’s that
simple and that fast! The system is easy to use. It will talk them
through the
step-by-step process. In most cases, a claimant will have
three (3) attempts to
enter the correct information.
Q
What is the
difference in how UI works here and other states?
A
While
each state’s laws may differ somewhat, they are usually very
similar. All states must conform to basic
principles set forth in federal
regulation. Claimants in some states have
to serve a waiting week before
they can draw benefits, but Kentucky does
not.
Q
May I
participate in a
hearing in person (not over phone)?
A
Yes,
if the situation warrants an in person hearing. Some of the factors
used to determine this are the number of
witnesses to testify; the
complexity of the issue; and the distance
that the participants have to
travel.
Q How
do I report new hires?
A You
may mail your new hire report to:
The Kentucky New Hire Reporting Center
P.O. Box 1130
Richmond, VA
23218-1130
Fax
reports to: 1-800-817-0099 or 1-804-771-1908
You may call the Kentucky New Hire Reporting Center at
1-800-817-2262
or 1-804-771-9602 for any questions
regarding the new hire law. Help
Desk staff are available Monday through
Friday from 8:00am - 5:00pm.
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