Existing literature on accessing government benefits focuses on a dyadic relationship between individuals and the state. Using data from qualitative interviews with a diverse group of individuals who experienced job loss between 2007 and 2011, this study identifies the important role a third actor, the employer, plays in influencing benefit take-up. Due to a structural feature of the law originally intended to discourage employers from laying off employees, employers are party to the unemployment benefit claim and may face higher taxes when workers successfully claim benefits.  Because of this inclusion of former employers in the claims process, job losers perceive their claim to benefits not as simply a transaction between themselves and the state, but as an action affecting their former employer as well.  Potential claimants consider their relationship with the former employer when choosing whether or not to pursue claims. Respondents report that their former employers fail to notify employees of their unemployment eligibility and discourage legitimate claims to benefits; personal relationships with former employers influence how former employees respond to and perceive these actions.  I find that respondents' reactions to employer discouragement of claims is patterned by class and gender, with low-SES respondents and women less like to aggressively and successfully pursue benefits.  These findings suggest that employer behavior may be driving some of the demographic disparity in rates of unemployment benefit access noted in other literature, and has implications for the enlarging employer presence in other realms of the welfare state.