Allied Barton Misses Deadline To Answer My Appeal!

Actually this is unexpected. I was sure that I would have heard from the Appeals Board with a court date to object to Allied Barton's claims that I "willfully" quit my job, by now.
Either they feel that they didn't have to? Forgot or failed to get back to Corporate Cost Control, Inc. to file the answer? It's either incompetence, arrogance, indifference, or all of the above!
Stay tuned as I begin to unfold more of this Corporate insensitivity and greed.

Ineligible! How Allied Barton Denies Unemployment Benefits

If you happen to find yourself on a site that Allied Barton cannot maintain and loses the account due to no fault of your own. I feel for you. There are two guards at this point. The guard who keeps his/her job and starts at another site immediately without a break in pay. Or the guard that is kept isolated and uninformed about his/her continuing employment, receives a letter blaming them for failing to keep in contact, and now find themselves without a job.
This tactic is called Isolation.
When Allied Barton loses an account, it is not necessarily the fault of the guard(s). This responsibility rests with the account manager, operations manager. The manager most likely lacks communication and people skills. You just can't teach leadership. You can't take an Allied Barton course on leadership or read books about it. What has happened is that the Client has either given up trying to communicate with the manager and/or has found another security service that is a better fit (cheaper). Most often it's both.
Bottom line. Here's the rundown!
Your site has been discontinued. Your account manager, operations manager, and Human Resources (HR) abandon you and do not offer you continued work. You file an unemployment claim. Which you are entitled to while you look for another job.
At this point you have become an ongoing expense to Allied Barton. In their eyes it was your fault that they no longer have an account. They don't want you! You see, Allied Barton has to carry the expense of having anyone on unemployment. And as a "cost saving" measure they have to get you off of their books.
When you file a claim this alerts your account manager, operations manager, and HR. HR contacts a third party whose sole purpose is to deny employees' unemployment benefits. Your unemployment claim will be challenged by Corporate Cost Control, Inc. out of Londonderry, NH. They work for Allied Barton. Their job is to discredit you and have the Unemployment Board find you not eligible to receive unemployment benefits.
If you are successful and are found to be eligible you will hear from Allied Barton. They will now offer you a job. But why? Allied Barton has already complained to the Unemployment Board that your work didn't meet their standards and that you were discharged for misconduct. So why would they want to rehire a guard that couldn't "Dare to be G.R.E.A.T", who didn't meet their standards? For the sole purpose to interrupt and cease your claim. I'm sure that you would rather be working. But why work for a company that doesn't want you? HR knows that you cannot refuse work when offered. If you do, Corporate Cost Control, Inc. will file another appeal and attack again stating that you refused suitable work when offered. So you accept the work. You find that the site is not suitable. It's a "problem site". The Client is probably dissatisfied with the account manager, the guards are not up to par, and Allied Barton is on the verge of losing the account. You've been set up to fail!
You find that the work environment is impossible to perform your job effectively or at all. You've been put into a situation with little to no choice and decide that you can't take it anymore. You want your dignity back. So you quit. Without just cause, Allied Barton and Corporate Cost Control, Inc. has just got what they wanted. They wanted to break you. Now Allied Barton is completely rid of an employee that they didn't want and doesn't have to pay on an unemployment claim anymore. And Corporate Cost Control, Inc. has destroyed and taken advantage of yet another employee trying to make a living in this down economy. Nothing personal, it's just business.
And to add insult to injury, if you want to continue working in the security field, you won't be able to. The word is out. No other company will hire you.
Good luck in your fight!

Support For My "Conspiracy Theory"

Here's some background of how I got to the point of creating this blog.
I had worked on this particular site for almost two years (1 year, 10 months). No complaints. No conflict with any of the guards. Our group had a total of five including the supervisor.
Allied Barton had advanced knowledge that the client was not going to renew it's contract and that Allied Barton's services would no longer be needed after a set date. Fair warning. I decided to stay with Allied Barton because I had been with them for three years (this site and a previous transfer) and felt that I had saved benefits due, like vacation pay. The supervisor was hired immediately to another site. The other guards went with the incoming security service. I got lost in the details to make this short. I will have a detailed post later. But listen to this guy in his account with Allied Barton.
Click this link - Allied Barton Security Service Inc., Unfair labor practices, etc.

You can't make stuff up like this!

What To Expect At Your Unemployment Hearing

If you find yourself in the unfortunate position of having to defend yourself against an eligibility appeal filed for Allied Barton, then you have a limited time period in which you need to gather evidence and/or witnesses in your defense. I say "for" Allied Barton and not "by" Allied Barton because, Allied Barton won't dirty their hands in this matter. They have a corporate specialist do the initial dirty work. They file the appeal based on the information that they get from your account manager and the HR department. You can begin to see now that complaining to HR won't get you anywhere, but you should just to have it on the record. In my California case, Allied Barton used a company called Corporate Cost Control out of Londonderry, NH to start the appeal process in which I received a packet from the Appeals Board with a Notice of Hearing with date, place, and time. Also included are the issues and intimidating language with unfamiliar codes like Section 1257(a) Section 1256, etc. Code definitions can be found on your State's employment development department's website.
Now is the time to gather up you notes, CYA file, and a list of witnesses, if any. Got a witness that won't come to the hearing and they have information to help support your case, you can have them subpoenaed. But ask the person first if they will come to the hearing before you contact the Office of Appeals.
Read your Office of Appeals pamphlet that comes with your hearing packet.
Very important! Take the time to research the section code numbers and learn their meaning. This is what you are being charged with to deny your claim! This will give you valuable insight as to what the hearing is about. Another big point. Call the Office of Appeals a few days before your hearing and ask if you can view the hearing file BEFORE your hearing date. This varies from State to State. I was able to review my file just before my hearing. IT PAYS TO GET THERE EARLY! Review your notes, gather your composure, show no emotion (I know it's hard), address the judge as "your Honor".
And most of all come prepared. Have all of your paperwork and papers that you wish to present to the judge.
When you enter the meeting room you will have your former account manager and HR manager sitting directly across the table from you. The judge sits at the head of the table. Both sides are sworn in and your hearing begins! Speak clearly and directly to the judge. If you have a problem with a question you can ask the judge for help.
This is what I went through. Your situation my be different.
Good luck in your fight!

The Daily Pennsylvanian :: AlliedBarton officers vote to join union

Although I'm not sure if a Union will change the culture of Allied Barton. It may benefit the guards with higher wages (so they can afford to pay dues), swifter legal resolve against workplace harassment, denied breaks, denied meal breaks, not receiving correct pay, and a grievance committee. A Union may keep a lazy account manager on his toes. And stop HR from sweeping your complaints under the carpet.
On the other hand. Make sure that your Union is not so weak as to knuckle under Allied Barton pressure to go non-union once again. If you want a Union, you'd better be at ALL Union meetings to keep up the support.
Here's the link to the article Allied Barton officers vote to join union

No Advancement For Old Men.

I had been with Allied Barton for over three years. And in that time period you would think that I would have been offered a chance to advance to a higher degree of responsibility like account manager. You would think  that after three years I would receive a raise or a pat on the back every now and then. Forget about it. If you're not in the account managers' "inner circle" advancement is not in your future. And if you're over 50 years old, regardless of your experience or years with Allied Barton, you're staying put in a dead end job. Kiss up to a connected account manager long enough by doing some dirty work for them like setting up a guard that they want to get rid of by bringing charges of misconduct or complaining in secret that the "target" guard's work is all of a sudden not up to par with Allied Barton standards. (So that they can fire the "target" guard and not have to pay unemployment benefits.) Or if the "inner circle" really likes you they will invite you to their company award ceremonies and award you with achievement plaques that you didn't earn or deserve. Maybe they'll invite you to go with them to the gun range or out to frequent the local pub to lift a couple of 16 ounce curls. Most of the account managers with Allied Barton are between the ages of 30 to 40ish. Sites supervisors can be as young as 20 to 30. My last three site managers were in that age range. Hired off the street with no security guard experience. No life experience to even start to have an idea of what public relations and dealing with the public is all about. And no desire to do the job other than to collect a paycheck. So when you hear the complaint that your supervisor and/or account manager lacks people skills, this is the reason why and is part of the problem. They are ill trained, immature, and inexperienced. Yet Allied Barton promotes these folks over a more qualified candidate.
My first site supervisor only got the job and position because he was related in some way to the property management client. Family, close friend, unknown. And I believe that hiring this individual was a condition that Allied Barton had to hire this individual in order to secure the account. He almost got fired for losing a site employee's FedEx package. He dodged that bullet and then ended up getting an award for most improved guard and had only been in the security field for only THREE MONTHS! He subsequently quit to work for another security company after successfully negotiating a raise for himself and implementing amendments to our existing post orders that even he would not carry out. The next manager was a military vet with a college degree and under 30 years old. Stayed less than six months. Got a job in her related field according to her degree. The last supervisor was in their early 20's. Didn't give a damn about the account other than collecting a paycheck. The Client constantly complained about his poor performance and how he was not doing his job. It fell on deaf ears with the account manager who doesn't answer his phone calls and is only available during business hours. Allied Barton lost the account!
Not once was I asked to take over even though as I was the better candidate. I did get a pat on the back though for holding down the account during the transition period between supervisor #2 and supervisor #3.
Nonetheless folks. If you honestly believe that Allied Barton promotes from within and that you will receive advancement for your growth and achievement with the company, you'll be bitterly disappointed. If you are over 50 years old, their is no advancement, no gratitude. You're a target waiting to be put out into the streets with no safely net, no job, and not eligible for unemployment insurance.
Good luck!  

Allied Barton Mistreatment Of Employees.

So you think that Allied Barton is an up and up company to work for or entrust your business to...?
Watch the following video. See if you've experienced this at your workplace.
Note: I will say recently, flex guards hired before January 2013 that were required to work all of these crazy hours at the drop of a hat, with no refusal of work accepted, and no questions asked are now all assigned to permanent posts working 40 hours a week for less pay. What's a guard to do, used to working 60 to sometimes 80 hours a week? That guard has been accustomed to a certain level of pay for all of the verbal abuse from his or her account manager and the lack of sleep and damage to one's health. How's it feel having your hours and rate of pay taken away. How are you going to pay your bills with a good portion of your pay stripped away? In my area, flex guards will lose 2 1/2 to 3 times their usual gross wages. And new flex guards will face and experience the same unreasonable demands of their account managers for less pay. That's gratitude for ya.
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