THE DANDELION CONNECTION
Ellicott Square Building., 295 Main Street Room 495, Buffalo, New York 14203
(716) 847-0655 ext. 402  www.nls.org

in this issue..
Rights and Responsibilities on the Job
Child Support
Student loans

        If you have made it off public assistance and are working full time, congratulations!! If you are still making the transition, or if you are unemployed now, it is really important to learn as much as you can about your rights and responsibilities as a worker in the workplace. Just like the welfare system, the workplace has its own rules. Just like in the welfare system, information is power. The more you can learn about your rights on the job and about the rules at your own workplace, the more prepared you will be to deal with situations as they come up. Even better, you can make a plan for growing out of your current job and into the next one.

        This article gives you some general information about the different rules and regulations that govern the workplace, and how you can use advocacy skills to protect your job and your rights.

        It is important to remember that, in most states in the United States (including New York), the general rule is that you can be hired, or fired, for any reason or no reason at all. This rule is called “at will employment.” Many people believe that they cannot get fired without the employer having a good reason to fire them. Unfortunately, this is not true. Your employer is not allowed to break the law, but if no law applies, you can get fired for any reason. It is not illegal to get fired because your employer has a personality conflict with you, or because you are too good at your job.

        If you are a member of a union, or if you have a written contract with your employer, you probably are not an “at will” employee. If you are a union member, get a copy of the contract so you understand what your rights and responsibilities are on the job. It is important to read the contract and understand it to help prevent disputes from starting in the first place.

        Many people have asked us, “I’m in a bad situation and I think I might get fired. Should I quit to protect my work history?” This is a difficult question. Sometimes, quitting is a good idea – for example, to take another job immediately that pays more than the job you are quitting. But usually quitting is a bad idea for lower-income workers. It is a bad idea for a lot of reasons. First, you might not be able to get unemployment benefits if you quit. Second, if you are applying for and/or getting public assistance or food stamp benefits, you might get sanctioned for quitting if your DSS worker doesn’t think you had good cause for quitting your job, or even just reducing your hours. Third, if you quit and don’t have another job lined up, you lose your income, and you might not be as close to getting fired as you think. So, don’t quit without getting some legal advice first!

What if I’m a temp employee? Do I have any rights?

        Some people work as “temps” – a temporary agency places people at job sites. Sometimes, people working as temps get fired for illegal reasons. It is important to remember that you do have legal rights, even if you work as a temp employee. You might be able to show that you work for both the job site and the temp agency, and are protected against illegal acts by both of them. If you are not getting paid, or if you are getting harassed on the job, or if you think you qualify for unemployment, you should seek legal assistance.

What are my rights on the job?

        There are laws that outlaw discrimination and harassment in the workplace based on your sexual orientation, race, creed, color, sex, age, marital status, national origin, disability, pregnancy, or prior arrest or conviction. Depending on the state where you live, you can file a claim of workplace discrimination or harassment either with the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission – the federal agency that investigates civil rights complaints) or the state agency that investigates discrimination claims (for example, in New York, the DHR – Division of Human Rights – investigates claims of workplace and housing discrimination). In Buffalo, the telephone number is 847-7632.

        If you are disabled within the meaning of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), you should be able to negotiate with your employer to accommodate your disability if you need to so that you can do the job as well as someone who is not disabled.

        Also, if you are covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), you can take 12 weeks of leave to take care of a sick family member, for the birth or adoption of your child, or for your own serious medical condition.

What are my responsibilities on the job?

        You got hired to do your job because your employer thought that you could help get the job done. As an employee, the law expects you to be loyal – that is, no stealing from your employer, no working on another job while you are on your job’s time clock, and generally to do your job as best you can. Remember, the best employees are usually able to show employers that they are the ones who would benefit from getting promotions and raises!

Community Contacts

        Knowing as many people as possible in the community may be the best way to get a job in the first place. A study showed that as many as 85% of all jobs are not advertised – they are filled through word of mouth. So you might be able to find a good job, or a better job, by talking to people you know.

Once you are on a job, your community contacts can help you meet the challenges of staying on the job. People have organized car-pools, child care circles, dinner-cooking circles, and other group efforts to help each other deal with hurdles on the job. Different agencies can help you with other kinds of problems, like consumer counseling or getting help with day care payments, or getting a voucher to get a uniform. Remember, use the phone book to find the people who can help you.

        Just like when you deal with any agency, keep all the information about your job in a separate folder. If you have trouble on the job, keep notes at home about what  is happening – remember to keep track of names and dates of incidents, anything that can help you reconstruct what happened. If you get an employee manual, read it, or at least keep it handy in case you need to read it – the employee manual is like the rules of the job, and you might have some protections right in the manual.

        If you get a job description, keep it. If you get any notes from customers or from supervisors telling you that you did a good job, keep them. Even keep any bad performance reviews! If you are looking for a job, keep notes on all the places you looked, the people you talked to, and the dates of interviews or phone calls. If you are receiving public assistance or unemployment, it is important that you be able to prove that you’ve been looking hard for a job with many different employers.

        If there are people on the job who praise your work or encourage you to succeed, remember them because they can help you to advance your career.

Negotiation Skills: Active listening and communication

        These skills are very, very important on the job. Whether it’s negotiating a raise, or keeping your cool as you get fired, it is really important to remember how to actively listen and communicate in stressful situations.

        In order to be as prepared as possible for these situations, be alert to warning signs that things are not going so well on the job. Some warning signs to watch out for:

• warnings or poor performance reviews
• changes in your work assignments and duties
• changes in management
• financial problems at the company
• actions taken against you – reduction of hours, probation, etc.

        If you see any of these warning signs, you need to address them before it is too late. Now is when your contacts can help you the most. Ask for their help and advice – explain what you need to know and how they can help. Try to stay positive about the situation and do not talk negatively about the company.

        Get as much information from the company as possible. Find out if you are an at-will employee who can be fired for any legal reason, or if you are covered by union rules or a contract that says you can only be fired for good cause. Ask to look at your personnel file. If you find anything in your personnel file that is wrong or that you disagree with, get a copy of your personnel file and try to correct it.

        If necessary, you can negotiate with your employer to try to clear up the problems. Keep the lines of communication open, and ask if there is a way to work together. If despite your best efforts you do not find a solution, do not quit your job. Keep a record of what is happening and keep investigating your options.

What if I get fired? What should I do at the meeting when I get fired?

        It is really important to stay calm. Focus on getting as much information as you can, and listen carefully to the person who is speaking. Ask questions. Set the date for another meeting if possible. Do not sign anything at this meeting.

        Right after the meeting, write down as much as you can remember about what happened at the meeting. Date your notes and hold on to them.

Remember: your cash benefits, unemployment benefits, and housing subsidies can all be affected by what happens on the job. Before you quit or get fired, call your local legal services office for help.

Child Support and your right to Review

        When you apply for public assistance you “assign” your right to child support to DSS. This means that DSS gets your support payments because they are     reimbursing themselves for assistance they pay to you in your monthly grant. Even though DSS keeps the child support payment, you are still entitled to the first $50.  This is called the pass through. You get the pass through on top of your public assistance grant. Every month you should be getting a mailer detailing how much money the Support Collection Unit (SCU) has received in child support on your behalf.

What happens if my child support payments are greater than my grant?

        If the SCU collects more in child support than you get in your grant (this must be current support, not arrears), then any excess support should be paid to you. This can happen when you close your case, or it can happen if you are only receiving a partial grant because you are working. For instance, if you have overtime pay that causes you to have a smaller public assistance grant for certain months, then in those months the excess support should be paid to you.

What do I do if I think I was wrongly denied a pass through?

        If you think that you were wrongly denied a pass through, or did not get excess support , or if you think the pass through is not adequate, a current or former recipient of public assistance can get an administrative review. This is called a desk review. The desk review gives you the right to a face to face conference.

        You have to request a desk review in writing. You can write to the Office of Child Support Enforcement, 95 Franklin Street, Room 728, Buffalo, New York, 14202. The review is limited to child support collected in the year of your request and the previous year. SCU must give a decision within 45 days after you submit your completed desk review form.

        If you do not agree with the determination of the local SCU, you may ask for a state level review within 20 days of the local SCU decision. The request must be in writing. The state must make a determination within 30 days. If you don’t agree with the state level determination you can file an Article 78 in Supreme Court. You will probably need the assistance of an attorney to file an Article 78 . If you have any questions contact Project Dandelion at 847-0650.

        Those of us at Project Dandelion want to extend our many thanks to the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo for supporting our Consumer Law Project efforts over the last year. Last year, each edition of the Dandelion Connection contained an article concerning consumer issues that affect our clients as they transition from welfare to work. Each of those articles was made possible by the generous support of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo.

Heap Update: Regular HEAP closes on April 21, 2003. Emergency HEAP closes on May 2, 2003. The emergency heating replacement and repair component will remain open.

Do you need help with student loans?

Overwhelmed by paperwork from your loans? Did you pay for a vocational school, and never complete the course?
Are you delinquent with your payments? Are you in default? Are your wages being garnished?

Project Dandelion can help.

Income eligible clients can get free advice and assistance. Call to register for one of our free clinics. Clinics are held on the first TUESDAY of every month. Register today. We meet at 2:00 p.m. Call 847-0650 for more information.

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