My "Unemployment" Issue [PART 1]

In June, I visited Nashville and stopped by a a child care center I was interested in working at. They told me they were hiring and would send me an application to fill out. I received the application that afternoon and filled it out within the week.

Shortly thereafter, I had a phone interview which was following by a Skype interview. Setting up these interviews; however, proved very difficult due to poor communication. I ended up calling and emailing multiple times in order to get my interviews set up. At this point, I was skeptical of working for an employer that I was already having difficulty working with, but I was assured this was to be expected and was told to have patience because HR was a busy place.

During my Skype interview I was told that all by background work had to go through before I could start work and that this could take up to six to eight weeks for someone from out of state. I said this was okay, because so long as we got the process rolling right away, I should be able to start work around the time I was hoping to (the first or second week of September).

A week after my Skype interview, I received a call and was offered the position with the hours I had hoped for and making only slightly less than what I had asked to be paid. I accepted. They told me shortly thereafter that they hoped I could start work on August 26th granted my background check had been completed by then.

I filled out the paperwork they sent me by email within one to two days.

Over email, I was told that I needed to have Fingerprinting done in order to work with kids. I was asked to set up a time to come in and do so in the next week. I responded telling them that I was out of state and would not be back in Tennessee until late August or early September. I asked if I could have my fingerprinting done somewhere in Minnesota and sent to them. (After all, the Federal Government works in every state.)

They responded that they would not accept Fingerprinting done in the State of Minnesota. I would have to come to Tennessee to be Fingerprinted. At that time, I rationalized that it would be a waste of money to spend two or three hundred dollars to Tennessee for ONE APPOINTMENT prior to moving there. 

Upon further insistence that they would not accept Fingerprinting performed out-of-state, we scheduled my Fingerprinting for the day after I arrived in Nashville in late August. I actually moved down to Nashville a couple of weeks earlier that I had wanted to in order to get my fingerprinting done on August 20th. I was informed they hoped to have me start work on August 26th but that my start day was dependent on when my fingerprints finished processing.

I might add that between the time I was hired and the time I moved to Nashville, the woman who hired me left the company and I got a new supervisor. However, I did not know about this, so for weeks I sent emails to the wrong supervisor before finally calling and being told, "She doesn't work here anymore. You have a new supervisor." Uh, ok. I was finally able to talk to my new supervisor on the phone, and I really liked her.

On August 20th I walked into the Nashville FedEx I was told to go to in order to be fingerprinted. Fingerprinting took less than ten minutes. I really could not logically figure out why a Twin Cities FedEx would have been "less reputable."

I spent the following week getting settled into Nashville: unpacking my things at my new apartment, doing some shopping, organizing my room, seeing family... I called my employer a couple of times later in the week to ask if my Fingerprints had come through yet so that I could start work on August 26th as scheduled. 

When I spoke to my supervisor in person on the 20th, she said that she hoped they could get me Conditional Employment if my fingerprints did not go through right away. With Conditional Employment I could attend orientation and work and make my regular wages. I simply would not be allowed to be left alone with the kids until my fingerprinting was complete.

That week I sent multiple emails, make multiple phone calls, and left multiple messages before I hearing back from HR on the evening of Friday, August 23rd. I was told that my fingerprints had not gone through yet, and I would be unable to start work on the 26th. Due to orientation dates, I had to start work on a Monday, so I would not be allowed to start until at least the following Monday.

Hearing this, I decided that instead of sitting around in Nashville waiting to work, I would go home for a week to do the things I had hoped to do back home before moving to Nashville: the biggest of those things being going to the Minnesota State Fair. I joined my mom for the drive home and flew back to Nashville the following Sunday. It was a much-needed week of refreshment and fun.

My employer promised to call me as soon as my Fingerprints went through and did not contact me throughout that week, so I returned to Nashville with another week of unemployment before me and hoping to start the following Monday.

I emailed and called a few times that week. In an email sent to HR and to my supervisor, I mentioned the possibility of Conditional Employment, because this had not been spoken of since the day I met my supervisor in person. I was told that the Tennessee Department of Human Services would have to approve my Conditional Employment, but they would look into it.

A day later I emailed to ask if they had heard anything. It was Friday, and I was REALLY hoping to FINALLY be able to start work the following Monday. I was informed that they had not heard back but were looking into things.

This is when I decided to look into things a little myself. I called the Department of Human Services to explain the situation and ask about Conditional Employment options. They told me to call the Out of State Registry for the State of Tennessee and gave me the number. I called the Registry and they looked up my information, and they asked me when had sent in my New Supplemental Disclosure Form and Out-of-State Form for the state of Minnesota. 

I told them I wasn't sure, because all the paperwork I had done I had sent to my employer. They told me they couldn't find either of those documents in their files and said I would have to call my employer to find out the document's FAX number and when they were sent.

I called the HR department at my work and was told they didn't have access to any of my paperwork. They asked who I had been working with in HR, so I have them the name of the HR representative I had been working with other the past few months. They told me I would need to call her.

I made the phone call, but the representative didn't answer, so I ended up leaving a message explaining that I had spoken with Out of State Registry and they couldn't find these documents. I asked if I could be told when these documents had been sent over and their FAX number. With this information, I could work further with the Out of State Registry to see if Conditional Employment would be an option.

I didn't hear back from my employer, so I called and was able to chat with the representative. Had the representative gotten my voicemail? Nope. But we chatted a little. If I understand correctly, she said only the employer could work with places like the registry but to tell her what they needed. I cannot start on Monday, September 9th. They will contact me on Monday or Tuesday with further info.

In the meantime, this girl is going to start looking for babysitting jobs.