State of Maryland

An Unemployment Insurance (UI) Claim Center Associate II is the full performance level of work in a Claim Center within the Division of Unemployment Insurance involving obtaining detailed, technical information from claimants in order to establish and process unemployment insurance claims, and to detect potentially disqualifying unemployment insurance issues. Employees in this classification do not supervise other positions.

Employees in this classification receive general supervision from a UI Claim Center Associate Supervisor I or other designated supervisory personnel.

Positions in this classification are evaluated by using the classification job evaluation methodology.  The use of this method involves comparing assigned duties and responsibilities of a position to the job criteria found in the Nature of Work and Examples of Work Sections of the class specification.

The UI Claim Center Associate Trainee, UI Claim Center Associate I and UI Claim Center Associate II are differentiated on the basis of the degree of supervisory control exercised by the supervisor over these employees. The UI Claim Center Associate Trainee learns to perform duties under close supervision.  The UI Claim Center Associate I performs duties under close supervision at times and under general supervision at other times depending on the complexity of the specific duty being performed.  The UI Claim Center Associate II performs the full range of duties and responsibilities under general supervision. The UI Claim Center Associate II is differentiated from the UI Claim Center Associate, Advanced in that the UI Claim Center Associate, Advanced performs advanced claims taking and adjudication work encompassing non-separation issues that are more complex.

Interviews claimants for unemployment insurance benefits, individually, by telephone and in group settings, to obtain and record demographic, wage and work information, including but not limited to severance and pension payments, medical documentation and disputed eligibility status and a variety of other issues;

Analyzes information to determine the appropriate claim type for unemployment insurance benefits, including but not limited to: initial Maryland claims, interstate and intrastate claims, additional claims, reopen claims, transitional original claims, combined wage claims, disputed wage claims, Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Service Members (UCX) claims, Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) claims, The Trade Readjustment Act (TRA) claims, extended benefit claims, and Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) claims;

Verifies eligibility and ensures prompt payment of benefits by completing required forms and enters data into the Maryland Automated Benefits System (MABS);

Takes initial claims by the evaluation of fact, detects eligibility issues and establishes those issues by entering data into MABS;

Detects, clears and self serves outstanding penalties and determines when to cancel a claim;

Obtains work and wage information by interviewing claimants and employers and obtains the documentation required to establish an earnings record necessary to prepare a disputed claim;

Conducts Benefit Rights Interviews (BRI) to advise claimants of their rights and responsibilities under unemployment insurance law;

Assists claimants on the inquiry line, in understanding the claims process and identifies technical problems;

Conducts Eligibility Review Interviews (ERI) to discuss continuing eligibility for benefits and re-employment assistance by interviewing claimants and examining their work search records for the purpose of evaluating work search efforts and developing a re-employment assistance plan;

Processes benefit appeal requests for claimants and employers and may be responsible for transmittal of appeal requests to the Appeals Division;

Identifies, investigates and resolves problems related to claims for unemployment insurance benefits using the MABS mainframe data system to ensure that individual claims for unemployment insurance benefits are kept up-to-date;

Maintains electronic notepad and files on each unemployment insurance case in a complete manner according to established policy and procedures;

Refers questionable cases of a highly complex nature to an unemployment insurance adjudicator, lead worker or supervisor for more intensive fact-finding;

Provides technical guidance and on-the-job training to other personnel, including intermittent staff;

Enters data requests for separation information returned from employers;

Explains and informally interprets laws governing unemployment insurance to employers, claimants and the general public in a professional and courteous manner, within the meaning of the law, including inquiries in person, via telephone or by mail regarding such issues as general eligibility, appeal requests and procedures, severance and holiday pay, return to work confirmation and other issues;

Reads materials, attends meetings and training to enable the employees to abide by laws, rules, regulations, procedures, policies and ethical responsibilities promulgated by and governing the agency to ensure awareness and compliance and enhance levels of service;

May conduct the processing of bulk claims using the automated bulk claim program for employers in the event of a mass layoff or holiday plant closing;

May represent the agency at referee, appeal board and other internal hearings, to explain factual information regarding cases;

May perform bilingual services;

Performs other related duties.

Class Descriptions are broad descriptions covering groups of positions used by various State departments and agencies.  Position descriptions maintained by the using department or agency specifically address the essential job functions of each position.

Class Descriptions provide information about the Nature of Work, Examples of Work, General Requirements and Acknowledgements.  The Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities; Minimum Education and Experience Requirements; Special Requirements; and recruitment and testing procedures are set by the using agency.

This is a Skilled Service classification in the State Personnel Management System.  All positions in this classification are Skilled Service positions.  Some positions in Skilled Service classifications may be designated Special Appointment in accordance with the State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 6-405, Annotated Code of Maryland.

This classification is not assigned to a bargaining unit, as indicated by the designation of S (Supervisor), M (Manager), T (Agency Head), U (Board or Commission Member), W (Student), X (Used by Agency or Excluded by Executive Order), or Z (Confidential).  As provided by State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 3-102, special appointment, temporary, contractual, supervisory, managerial and confidential employees are excluded from collective bargaining.  Additionally, certain executive branch agencies are exempt from collective bargaining and all positions in those agencies are excluded from collective bargaining.

Employees in this classification are eligible to receive overtime compensation.  An employee who works more than the normal workweek is entitled to be compensated for that overtime, as provided by the State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 8-305.