"Employers have to provide parking for their workers! Mine didn't, so I just quit. Now my eligibility for unemployment compensation is being questioned. That's not right," the indignant woman at my desk told me.

She was wrong. And her misconception cost not only her job but also her eligibility for unemployment compensation.

Employees often make assumptions based on misconceptions. Faulty information can cause hardship and even cost you money. When it comes to the world of work, it seems, there's a lot of room for confusion.

The issue of employer-provided parking came up frequently in my career as a job counselor. It quickly took top spot in the list of mistaken assumptions workers brought to my desk. True, some people take employer-provided parking for granted. But no law requires employers to provide parking as a fringe benefit.

Suburban employers are more likely to offer parking. Employers located in downtown areas usually expect employees to make their own parking arrangements.

Job seekers, particularly those applying for jobs in a downtown area, should inquire about the employer's policy on parking. Ideally, they should ask this question after being offered the job.

Workers often have similar misapprehensions about breaks - the 15-minute break for coffee and use of the washroom in the middle of a shift. Many people incorrectly assume that a law guarantees breaks for workers. Not true. The Fair Labor Standards Act, which established the minimum wage, overtime pay and child labor standards, is silent on the subject of breaks

People often assume breaks are required by law because they are common practice. Breaks may be negotiated into labor agreements and may be cited in employer handbooks. That does not mean, however, that every employer is obligated to provide one.

Other practices not required by law include - are you seated? - vacations, paid holidays, severance pay, paid sick leave or premium pay for week end or holiday work.

Over the years, I greeted a long line of workers who felt they were cheated of their rights when an employer deprived them of one or another of these perks. "I was just fired. So I demanded my paycheck right away," one worker told me once. "They refused. Can they do that?" I also received calls from employers puzzled by legalities: "This guy worked one hour and walked off the job. Do I have to pay?"

An employer is required to provide payment for work performed by terminated employees, but only on the regular payday for the pay period. They are not required to pay on demand. A person who walks off after an hour is entitled to pay under the same policy.

A job seeker was turned down for a job as a bank teller after the employer performed a credit check. Was this legal, she wanted to know.

The answer is based on job-relatedness. If this same jobseeker had been turned down as a cleaner because of her poor credit rating the potential employer would be on thin ice. It's difficult to show the job-relatedness of a credit rating to someone mopping the floor and emptying wastebaskets.

The Pennsylvania Department of Labor Law saw a correlation between personal credit and work as a teller, but not as a cleaner.

"Always carry your Social Security card with you. You will need it for identification," is a parent's advice to teenagers entering the real world. But the Social Security Administration advises people, "Don't carry your card with you. Keep it in a safe place." Some older cards even have the statement, "Not to be used for identification"

People find it hard to reconcile their parent's advice with Social Security's official advice to not carry it. The practice of using the social security card for hiring identification began long before the concern with identity theft. When a person is hired on a job all employers are required to complete form I-9. This form has lists of usable identification documents that include the Social Security Card. However, the list also includes a U.S Passport, permanent resident card, driver's license, a school ID, voter's registration, birth certificate, and a U.S military or draft card. The state of New York forbids the use of the Social Security card for identification for state purposes.

In light of this confusing information, what is a job seeker to do? Keep your Social Security card in a safe place as recommended by the department. When listing the social security number if possible copy the number from the original. If not, record the number from memory. If no other source of ID is available take your card to the place of employment and return it to its safe place.

And, to be on the safe side - take a bus.