By a part-time SMC instructor

INTRO:  Please keep in mind that websites change as do forms. The information contained below seemed to be current as of 12/17/09.  No representations or warrantees are being made as to the accuracy of the information contained herein.  The following is not a legal opinion and does not substitute for advice of counsel.

TEMPEST FUGIT – DO NOT WAIT TO FILE YOUR CLAIM!!

Your claim is not based on the date you became unemployed.  It begins on the Sunday of the week in which you filed your claim.  Ordinarily, if your last final was on a Thursday, for example, you want to file your claim on Friday.  That way, your claim can relate back to the Sunday prior.  

This is important because California law requires every person to serve a one week UNPAID waiting period, anyway.  So waiting until Monday in the example cited, means that you’ll have 2 weeks without any kind of unemployment insurance payment, instead of one.

That’s the bad news.  The good news (sort of) is that according to EDD’s “A Guide to Benefits and Employment Services” brochure, there is only one waiting period required during each 52 week claim year.  

So, for example, if you filed for unemployment insurance benefits between summer session and the beginning of the fall semester, it would appear from EDD literature that you would not have to endure another waiting period.  

If you want to be sure of the statements received herein, consult EDD or engage the services of a lawyer to double-check the accuracy of any statements made herein.

KEEP IN MIND THAT YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO RECEIVE BENEFITS BASED ON SCHOOL WAGES DURING A SCHOOL RECESS PERIOD.  

The period when school is closed (i.e. post-finals, but pre-winter session) may fall into this category, delaying any benefit payment period even further.  This means you really want to file your claim ASAP.

UNLESS YOU ARE AN INTREPID DAREDEVIL (OR A FOOL) AVOID FILING YOUR CLAIM ELECTRONICALLY, LAST MINUTE.

Go to www.edd.ca.gov a few days ahead of time – print out the questions, and manually fill them out at your leisure.  

You may feel like your answers are inconsistent and are therefore tempted to realign them.  If as a Fall part-timer, you received a slate of classes for the spring semester, let’s say, you might be tempted to answer yes to the question about whether or not you have “reasonable assurance of employment”.  

WRONG.  The question actually refers to the legal (not the vernacular) definition of “reasonable assurance” and even under the circumstances outlined above; SMC part-timers do not have any.  

SMC Board of Trustees Policy Section 3000 (BP 3230) states that “all offers of employment are official only when approved by the Board of Trustees and issued a contract”…(When was the last time you saw a written contract?)

Furthermore, SMC Administrative Regulation Section 3000:  Human Resources, further states that, “The assignment of an hourly faculty member is recommended by the Department Chair and may be modified at the discretion of the appropriate academic administrator” for reasons ranging from insufficient enrollment to being bumped.

The applicable case law on the subject is Cervisi et al. v. Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (208 Cal. App 3d 635) which you can find on the internet.  My point is that you do not want to have your application denied simply because you naively stated, being such a reasonable person yourself, that you have reasonable assurance of employment.  From a legal perspective, it would appear you do not.

Keep this in mind when you answer any questions relating to offers of employment.  (there are several).

READ THE FAQS ON THE EDD WEBSITE FOR SCHOOL EMPLOYEES BEFORE FILING.  There is actually a tab on the website though fairly easy to miss.  Go to www.edd.ca.gov/Unemployment/FAQ_-_Contacting_UI.htm   The tabs on the left side list a category called “School Employees”.  Read and/or print this out before filling out your claim.  This section also has an internal link about school employee claims (www.edd.ca.gov/Unemployment/School_Employee.htm.)  Read that too.

On the left side of that web page, there are tabs labeled “Before Your Start:  Information you need to apply for UI”.  Print it out several days prior to filing your claim and start gathering the information required.  (This includes info on all employers you worked for during the 18 months prior to filing your claim… including wages earned and how you were paid.)

MAKE SURE YOU COMPUTE YOUR WAGE BASE CORRECTLY.

Your weekly benefit is based on this amount, so it is important.  Your base period is a 12-month period of time.  Each Base Period has 4 quarters of 3 months each.  The quarter you were paid the highest amount of wages determines your weekly benefit amount.   Without getting too technical, you want to make sure you give the information for the entire 12 months, not just the last semester.  (I speak from experience.)  Using your pay stubs is a good way of verifying this information.

YOU CANNOT ACCESS THE INTERNET APPLICATION (3Apply4UI) OR PRINT APPLICATION (DE 1101I) THAT YOU CAN FAX OR MAIL IN, WITHOUT FIRST ANSWERING THE THRESHOLD QUESTIONS ON EACH PAGE OF THE INITIAL APPLICATION ON THE EDD WEBSITE.

Like the Nike ad says, “just do it.”  Because I get rattled filing out things I can’t easily take back once I push “enter”, I prefer the paper version.  It’s up to you.   Supposedly, you can call your application in, too, but I didn’t have much success with that.

The written application is 10 pages long.  Which leads us back to points # 1 and 3, above.

There’s an EDD-related Job Service Office at 13160 Mindinao Way, Ste 105 in Marina del Rey, CA that can help answer rudimentary claim filing questions, though their emphasis relates more to job hunting.   Their telephone # is 310-574-6464; hours M-Fri 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.  

Their tip to me:  if you filed a claim in the last 18 months (ie. In summer, for example) and you taught in the Fall semester, you can update your claim (it’s called “reopening your claim”) by telephone or by using the same forms used to file an initial claim.

If you try the phone route, call 800-300-5616.  You’ll get a recording.  If it starts with “Welcome”, input 12117 and wait through the period during which you’ll be placed on hold.  Eventually a live person should emerge and you can give your updated wages and employer info then.  If you get the recorded message that starts with “Thank You”, instead, hang up and try again, as you’ll never get through.

IF YOU ARE SCHEDULED FOR A PHONE INTERVIEW, THAT’S GOOD!

Apparently, claims by school employees trigger a phone interview by law, period.  (Even if you did file properly and are entitled to benefits.)  So don’t feel bad when you receive notification that you are scheduled for a telephone interview.

My experience is that they don’t necessarily call when they say they will.  (Be prepared for early or late calls – or for none at all, where the interviewer only claims that they called, but really didn’t!!)

During the interview, tell the truth – that your classes are subjected to cancellation based on insufficient enrollment, and that you can be bumped by a full-timer whose classes didn’t fill as well as yours.
    
IF YOU ARE DENIED BENEFITS, CONTACT THE FACULTY ASSOCIATION.

Despite settled case law, I was denied unemployment benefits fairly recently and appealed first to EDD (which denied my claim, despite my invoking the proper case law).  I therein filed a formal appeal, and with the help of our faculty association, won that appeal.

In my last application, which I faxed, I included a copy of that decision.  This time, benefits were granted.   

See a copy of that decision.