Fall 2013 Adjunct Unemployment Filing Session
December 23rd, Room 1303

Unemployment Benefits for Part-Time Faculty

Adjunct faculty members may be eligible for unemployment benefits over winter break even if they have an assignment for the spring. In order to qualify, one must be able to work and searching for a job.

Why do adjuncts qualify for unemployment benefits?
Unlike many teachers, who know they will have a job to come back to in the spring, adjunct faculty are “temporary” employees, and have no “reasonable assurance” of re-employment the following term. Their assignments are made on a tentative basis and may be cancelled for a number of reasons: enrollment, program changes, assignment of a full-time faculty member, and district prerogatives. A landmark 1989 decision (Cervisi v Unemployment Ins. Appeals Bd) established that “an assignment that is contingent on enrollment, funding, or program changes is not a ‘reasonable assurance’ of employment.”

Partial Benefits
If you are only partially employed for the winter, you may qualify for reduced benefits. Eligibility and benefits amounts are based on income. Please refer to the EDD website for more details. If you are in doubt about whether or not you qualify, just go ahead and apply. Be sure to report all income.

About Applying for Benefits
Applications can be filed online at www.edd.ca.gov/fleclaim.htm or by calling the Employment Development Department (EDD) at 1-800-300-5616.

Plan to apply for benefits on your first day of unemployment. Your claim will start at the beginning of the week you apply. Payments will only go back to the first day of application, so be sure to submit your claim in a timely fashion. There is a one-week waiting period for each benefit year, which begins with the date of filing for benefits and ends one calendar year later. Note that you are paid from the beginning of flex week through the end of the academic semester (unless you have a specified, shorter-term contract).

Be sure to let them know you are a temporary, part-time employee and that you do NOT have reasonable assurance of a job to go back to. It is important to understand, and convey when filing, that your assignment may be withdrawn at the District’s discretion at the last minute because of funding, enrollment, or other changes. This language is found in section 16.5 of the Contract, we recommend you have a copy on hand during the application process.

You may also want to mention your entitlement to benefits under the case of Cervisi v. California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (1989) 256 Cal.Rptr.142. 
In filing your claim, please note that your union number is AFT local 4400. Also note that the union does not operate a hiring hall or help its members find work (answer “no” to 22 d-g).

More Information  

• For filling information and details about eligibility see the EDD website at www.edd.ca.gov/fleclaim.htm.
• For general information and links to useful handbooks see the CCFT website at http://ccftcabrillo.org/parttimers/unemployment.php.

What to Bring to the Unemployment Filing Workshop

Many adjunct faculty members do not realize that they may be eligible for unemployment benefits between semesters. Generally, a part-timer is eligible to receive unemployment at the end of each term in which s/he taught — regardless of whether or not s/he has been given an assignment for the following term. (Because an assignment is not a guarantee and can be cancelled for a number of reasons, it is not considered “reasonable assurance of employment” as far as the law governing EDD is concerned.)

On December 23rd, we will walk you through the EDD’s online unemployment application, using the computers in room 1303.

When you file for unemployment, you will need information on how much you earned during the last 18 months. If your only employment was Cabrillo College, you can easily obtain this data from the Payroll department on the morning of the workshop. Payroll is a very short walk from the workshop room, and you can simply walk in to payroll and ask them for a printout of your wages for the last 18 months (the 18-month period ending with December) and then walk back over to 1303 for the workshop.

Note that for the purpose of calculating unemployment benefits, EDD only cares about when you actually worked and earned the income — not when you were paid for it. So if you are paid in January for work done in December, that counts as December income.

If you worked at an institution other than Cabrillo, you will need to bring your paystubs for the last 18 months, or you will need to know how much you earned during this period from each institution. You will also need the name, address, and phone number of your “very last employer,” the name of the person who was your immediate supervisor, and the first and last date you worked for the employer.

The online form asks you to list your income, per employer, for the last 18 months as follows:

• Gross wages for your last week of pay.
  
• Gross wages, broken down by quarter, for the last 6 quarters.

Note that if you are paid by course, there may be a few different ways to do these calculations. The bottom line is that if the employer has submitted this information to EDD in a timely manner (as Cabrillo always does), the EDD will use the data from the employer and the way you break down your wages will not matter at all. Just make a reasonable effort to be accurate.

In addition to the data on your income, you will also need:

• Personal data such as Social Security number and driver license number.
  
• The two most recent dates you previously filed a claim for Unemployment Insurance or Disability Insurance over the last two years.

Finally, you may wish to bring a flash drive to save a copy of your application to take home.