Some Urbandale Child-Care Workers Not Getting Unemployment

The of both of Theresa Mulhern's businesses leaves some of the workers who picketed her business without a job, without their last paycheck, and without unemployment benefits.

Mulhern, the owner of Imagination and Education Station child-care centers in Urbandale and West Des Moines, the Urbandale, then the West Des Moines centers last week after dozens of her employees began picketing the businesses, complaining they had .

Krystle Johnson of Des Moines is one of those workers who may not receive any unemployment benefits.

Johnson tried to apply for unemployment benefits last Wednesday and was told that the Iowa Workforce Development offices had no record in their computers that she had worked for Imagination and Education Station.

The next day, 28 picketers went together to file for unemployment benefits and several of the women received the same news, said , one of the center's former directors. 

Workers Apparently Not Reported

What that means is the women will have to wait for an investigation by the state agency before they can collect unemployment benefits, said the agency's communications director, Kerry Koonce. Koonce spoke generally about agency policy and procedure, noting that she is legally prohibited from discussing individual cases publicly. 

"They told me it would be at least three to four weeks before I hear anything back and I can't wait that long," said Johnson. She and her fiancee have two children. His job is scheduled to end Oct. 1, she said.
"I can't wait too much longer," said Johnson. "I'm just going to have to get another job"

Trenika Stewart of Johnston can't offer Johnson much hope. She fought a similar battle for nearly two months. Stewart, who recently started working at another job, told Urbandale Patch that she was fired in July because she wanted to work mother's hours and because of a comment she allegedly made to a parent.

When Stewart, a single mother of two children, went to claim her unemployment benefits that day, she was told that the state agency had no record that she had worked at the center, even though she had worked there more than a year. 

"They asked me if I have any proof that I worked there," she said, adding that she kept most of her pay stubs.

"They told me it would take six to eight weeks to get me back in their system, but it never happened." said Stewart.

"I am so far behind on all my bills. I've got disconnection notices, child-care bills, rent notices. It's just horrible," she said. 

Seeking Lost Wages 

She said Mulhern also still owes her for her last 62 hours of work. She never received her final paycheck. She and the other women all filed claims for lost wages with the agency.

However, Koonce said the agency doesn't have money to pay those claims. The state doesn't pay the claims until the owner pays them.  
"It depends on how uncooperative the employer is," Koonce said.

Sometimes the agency has to seek legal permission to get into the company's bank records.

Koonce said employers are required to file quarterly statements which list the amount of wages they paid each of their employees. The state agency tracks those wages by the employees' Social Security numbers. Based on a complicated formula, the employer has to pay unemployment taxes for each worker.

The reporting system is separate from an employer's reporting to state tax authorities on wages and withholding for Social Security, FICA, taxes and Medicare, she said, and there are fines for not reporting or paying unemployment taxes, but not criminal penalties.

A Long Road?
Koonce said some employees are classified as contract employees. As contract employees, they are not entitled to unemployment benefits. However, she said if a worker has taxes and withholding taken out of their paychecks, they generally are categorized as employees.

No part of the remedy will happen quickly, said Koonce, because the state must complete an investigation "and everybody has rights in the process" before unemployment benefits or lost wages can be paid.

"Unfortunately, they may have a long road ahead of them, depending on how they're classified in the first place," Koonce said.