Applying for Unemployment Benefits Presented by John Sullivan Part-time Representative, RCC, RCCDFA Southern Director for Part-time Faculty, CCA Board; CCA Statewide Part-time Faculty Issues Committee Chair; Associate Faculty, English, RCC Original Presentation created by Karen Roberts, Associate Faculty, Long Beach CC 1
Eligibility Part-time faculty are at-will, temporary employees Part-time faculty are contracted on a semester by semester basis and do not compensation between semesters Contracts are subject to funding, enrollment, and FT loads Legally, Part-time faculty do not accrue seniority because we are employed on a new contract each semester. Your Official Status Remember PT class assignments are contingent on Full time faculty getting all of their classes On funding of the District s Budget On enrollment and classes filling So even with a tentative assignment (TA), you do not have a reasonable assurance of returning to work (Cervisi, 1989) 2
Applying Apply on the day after your last final even though you haven t received your final paycheck. There is a one-week waiting period after you apply (an EDD week is Sunday Saturday). Apply online at http://edd.ca.gov Applying If you work at two or more schools, do not wait until the end of the semester of the last school File the day after your last final at the first school; then, after each school s last final this is referred to as Under-Employment Use the HR website for Hourly Salary Schedule School Calendars: Make sure start and stop dates for semesters are exact! If you report the wrong dates, you can be penalized because EDD checks with the school(s). On the EDD website, read the section Apply for UI Benefits to help you gather all the materials you need. View the EDD Unemployment Homepage 3
Click on Unemployment Click on these sections Once you re done reading, click here to start applying 4
Applying: Starting Read the instructions and note specific points What do you need to file? What constitutes a work week? How much are your earnings? Applying: What about Union Membership? You will be asked if you are a member of a union. If you are, your CTA Membership Card contains your union number in the upper right corner The CTA phone number is at the top on the back 5
Applying: Retirement Retired? You are eligible Fill out the information below Check with your pension provider for any impact on pension benefits Applying: Employment History Last employer State the last employer worked Include address, school phone number Supervisor is the dean Use the Dean on the Academic side; if you are on the Vocational side, use that dean or VP s name DO NOT put your department chair; they are not supervisors/management (just don t go there for now) Calculate your gross wages by multiplying the number of hours worked the last regular week by your hourly rate Note: at RCC, we are paid for 50 minute hours in the classroom, so A 3 unit class meets 3.5 hours per week A 4 unit class meets 5 hours per week A 5 unit class meets 6 hours per week 6
Note: School info Supervisor is the Dean, NOT the dept. chair Gross wages based on a 50 minute hour Applying: Sample Questions Some of the application questions: Do you expect to return to work for a former employer? Do you have a date to start work? Are you returning to work the next school session? Has your employer given you reasonable assurance, either verbal, written, or implied, of returning to work for the next school session? 7
Applying: Sample Questions Select the reason you are no longer working Keep your explanation BRIEF (eg.: My contract ended) Applying: Sample Questions Remember, we have no reasonable assurance (Cervisi) Question 31 is the only Yes 8
Applying: Sample Questions Remember, no reasonable assurance exists for PT faculty, so the district may say they would like to hire you to teach certain classes, but that isn t a legal assurance, so you don t know when you ll actually return to teaching. Applying: Employment History Provide 18 months of employment/salary history. EDD will base your claim on the highest quarter earnings. You can request the info from your college s payroll department. Include ALL jobs in the last 18 months. Notes on figures Do not estimate and do not use W-2s Refer to payroll stubs or sit down with a school calendar and your hourly rate best to request it from payroll though Remember, actual days worked. 9
Applying: Employment History 18 month work history PT are on semester by semester contracts Cover only 18 months regardless of how many years of contracts you have actually taught at RCC or any other school Dates Dates of employment mean the school s official first day of class and the last day of class. Your last day of work is the day of your last final. Pay dates are irrelevant; the issue is the last day worked. We are hourly, so the last hours paid is the final. 10
Note: List Semester beginning and Ending dates 11
-REVIEW --PRINT ---SUBMIT Print a copy of the online form for your records and to refer to in any future correspondence with EDD. Remember, there is a one week waiting period for which you will not receive benefits. That one week always begins the Sunday after you file. Now What? Process You will receive a Notice of Unemployment Insurance Claim Filed in the mail Check that the information is correct; you have 10 days to make any corrections. You will also receive a Notice of Unemployment Insurance Award. This notice will have the beginning and ending dates of your claim, the maximum benefit amount your are entitled to, the weekly amount you will receive. 12
Now What? Phone Interview This is standard practice You will receive a notice for the date and time of your phone interview; this is standard practice (see DYK) A list of questions is provided on the back of the notice. Keep your answers short! Do NOT Lie be honest and concise Remember you are not on semester break or recess; you simply don t have a job DO NOT JUST MISS IT! If you know that you will not be available, call EDD and let them know. Now What? Denials If you are denied benefits, you have 20 days to appeal. Possible Reasons: EDD was told by the employer that you would be returning the following semester. Some dates on your form were not accurate. If you are a CTA member, you are entitled to consult with a CTA staff person. Most claims are won at the first stage of appeal. 13
Now What? Reopening a Claim Once your claim is approved, it is open for a year from your date of submission or until you have exhausted the full benefit award. You can reopen it to receive benefits during subsequent semester breaks (summer or winter). Spring Break is NOT a semester break, so it does not qualify for EDD benefits Follow the instructions on the EDD website to reopen an existing claim. Now What? Receiving Benefits You will receive a debit card Any earnings per week must be submitted; follow the instructions with the debit card This is a B of A debit card and requires a B of A account; sorry. When you return to work, and the amount of your pay is larger than your benefits, you can stop filling out the claim form. As long as your benefits are more than your pay, you can continue to collect unemployment. This is considered Underemployment. 14
Under-Employment Under-employment occurs when you receive Unemployment because of reduced workload. For instance, if you taught three classes in Fall, but only teach one in Spring, you can continue receiving your benefits by Filling out and returning the bi-weekly form and putting down the actual hours worked Those earnings will be deducted from your weekly benefit amount and if they are less than the benefit amount, you will receive the difference You can receive Under-employment until your total award for the year is used up Help is on the way! Keep unemployment records together, from the date the claim opens to the date it closes. Keep all records in chronological order. This will help you if are denied and need to appeal. CCA Information cca4me.org: click on Issues & Action click on Part-time Issues If you are denied benefits (and only if) And if you are a union member, then contact your PT representative for a CTA staff consultation 15
Disclaimer Has to be said: The information in this presentation is subject to changes made by EDD that the author of the presentation is not aware of. The information herein was gathered from the EDD website and by doing a sample application. No claim or promise of actual EDD award is implied by this presentation. Viewers and users of this information should read the EDD website thoroughly, gather all information, check all dates and figures, and submit questions to EDD. The presenter is not an official representative of EDD and does not have the authority to speak on behalf of EDD. Anyone using the information herein shall hold harmless the presenter and authors of the presentation. 16