Last month, in this space, you met Larry Jurgens, ace unemployment lawyer. This month, Jurgens gives advice to small businesses faced with questionable unemployment claims from former employees.

As you may recall, Jurgens provides individual telephone consultation to employers engaged in disputed unemployment claims. He has decades of experience with unemployment compensation. To top it off, he's a Decatur native.

Jurgens is a partner and lead legal services attorney in the downtown Chicago law firm of Sanchez, Daniels & Hoffman. They are one of two firms contracted by the state to provide advice to employers. This program is funded by the Illinois General Assembly.

His services are limited to small businesses, those with 19 or fewer employees. To level the playing field, a similar service is in place for claimants.

When I interviewed Jurgens, I asked him what advice he has for small businesses. He offered six succinct pieces of wisdom:

First: Never fire in anger or haste. Take a breath, send the employee home, and review the evidence. Do a smell test. Is the offense worthy of a discharge? If this situation evolves into an unemployment hearing, the burden will be on you to prove that the termination is justified.

Second: Document everything. Don't depend on your memory. Write down what happened. Write it down promptly. Don't wait until you can't remember the dates or the details. If there's a trail of poor performance or disciplinary problems, make sure it's a clear path that anyone could follow. Do not try to describe feelings or attitudes. Stick to observable actions and events. You can't describe what hostility looks like, but you can describe shouting and waving arms.

Third: Whenever you get a notice that a former employee has filed for unemployment benefits, read it. Read it carefully.

Fourth: If you think the claimant may not be entitled to benefits, be sure to return the Notice of Claim within the required 10-day period. Jurgens recommends that this be done by fax and you keep a verification of the transmission. The verification is a receipt.

Fifth: Persist. If you think you have a valid argument, don't give up just because a local office rules against you; call the number on the back of the notice for legal advice. Call right away. It costs you nothing. Jurgens and his colleagues would rather you call too soon than too late. They want to talk to you now, not a couple of hours before the hearing. Don't concede if the referee rules against you. Call the number. Find out if you have a leg to stand on.

Sixth: If you have witnesses, use them. A witness is anyone who observed the precipitating incident. Jurgens says that some employers try to call as witnesses people who were not there, such as a plant manager or HR person. They are not witnesses, and their testimony can't be presented. A co-worker is often the best witness. Don't ask witnesses to take your side; just ask them to describe what they observed.

The advice boils down to this: There is free help available. Use it. Use it on time.

Fred W. Spannaus, principal of Spannaus Consulting, is a senior professional in human resources. He loves feedback to his columns. Fred can be contacted by e-mail at spannaus@

ameritech.net or by phone at 425-2635.