As an advocate for the unemployed, I am compelled to respond to two recent letters in Everybody’s Column, written by small business executives who condemned the New York State Department of Labor for its approach to employee issues.

The letters contained exaggerations about how the department unfairly protects employees fired for misconduct or who voluntarily quit. I am able to give comment on this matter based on my 10 years of defending the unemployed against unscrupulous, predatory employers and having performed hundreds of hearings before administrative law judges in contested unemployment insurance matters.

First, all employers have the right to contest any former employee’s right to unemployment insurance benefits by requesting an administrative law judge hearing. Neither writer stated that he did this. If an employee is fired for misconduct, the department, upon completion of an initial investigation, will rule in favor of the employer or claimant.

If the department rules that the claimant’s termination has merit, then to protect the employer’s account, the department will remove all wages earned with the employer from the computation of the claimant’s claim for benefits.

If the department rules that the claimant’s termination was unjust, then the claimant will be allowed benefits. The party on the losing end of the initial investigation has the right to request an administrative law judge hearing, at which all parties are afforded the right to present evidence to prove their position.

The judges in the Buffalo hearing office are highly skilled at their work and base their decisions on evidence presented, verbal testimony taken and unemployment insurance law.

As for the Department of Labor, it has improved drastically under the leadership of Commissioner M. Patricia Smith, who inherited an inept agency, stripped to the bare bones by the previous Republican administration. The department is now fully prepared to assist those who become unemployed through no fault of their own, while equally punishing both employers and claimants who skirt the law.

Sadly, I continue to represent clients who were terminated on preposterous charges, many before anticipated layoffs are to occur, in a sleazy attempt by employers to avoid paying unemployment insurance benefits. Some may view the business community as saintly, but there are plenty of sinners out there preying on their employees and keeping me fully employed.

Timothy J. Heyden is a labor representative at Collins & Brown LLC in Buffalo. He is a leading authority on unemployment insurance law in Western New York and a member of Local 17, International Union of Operating Engineers.