CA unemployment question

[CAunemployed]

California:

Hello All,

I worked for a company until June of 2009, at which point our company shut down our location and laid off all of its employees. I immediately filed for CA Unemployment and was approved.

A long 7 months later I am still out of work and looking for employment. I have just been approved for my first extension of my UI Claim.

A friend called me up today an offered me a potential 2 month contract in Virginia.

My question is this: If I take this contract and work for the entire length of the contract (2 months), when it ends will I again be eligible to apply for Unemployment in California? If I am eligible, will I be filing for a completely new UI claim and therefore will I be able to look for work for another six months before I have to file for an extension again? If I am eligible and if I do file a new claim, will this mean that my new Unemployment checks will be calculated for a significantly less amount than before due to the fact that I've been receiving a meager amount from this UI claim since June?

Thanks very much in advance for any help that you may be able to give me.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[commentator]

When you first filed your claim, it came with a date on it that said "BYE." This means Benefit Year Ends. This is one year from the date the claim was filed.

You drew probably all the weeks of money that were in this regular claim. That is 26 weeks or less, at a set amount per week. Then you began a federal extension because you had exhausted your regular claim.

If you take this two month job, (which I strongly advise you to do!), you will work until the job ends. At this time, you will file again for benefits. If it has not been a full years since the date you filed your first claim, you'll be in the same claim year, and you will be able to draw an extension again, picking up where you were on the last extension.

But whether you take the new job or not, when your BYE comes up, which means when one year passes from the time the original claim was filed, you will be required to file again. There is no choice on this matter. You cannot keep drawing the extension without refiling the claim. When your new claim is filed, it will be based on the quarters used at this time. It will NOT be based on the unemployment benefits, as these are NOT wages, however meager they are, or whether tax has been taken out. But since the quarters go about 18 months back, you'll probably have wages left from quarters of work for your old employer. It will probably set up at the same as your old claim in amount.

Now, this is the very important part. If you do not have what is called re-earnings, in other words if you have not worked and made a certain amount of wages from a covered employer since the original claim was filed, you cannot draw this claim.

No re-earnings would mean you stay on your extension until it is gone. Unless congress votes in another extension, that's all there is. No more extensions, no more unemployment until you have worked somewhere and made your re-earnings and then been laid off again for a qualifying reason.

But since you will have re-earnings, all you will have to do is submit your proof of re-earnings, wage stubs would be appropriate here, and you will be rolling on another regular claim of up to 26 weeks. Then, if congress has voted in another extension, you'd be abel to draw that....and on and on.

You do not have much of a choice though. If you refuse this job, you are supposed to tell the unemployment office about it or it will be considered fraud. If you refuse this job and don't lose your benefits, which might happen after an investigation, you're still on the down side of drawing. All federal extensions are set to end at the end of February right now anyway.

So take the job, don't try to be too smart and overthink your benefit system. Unemployment is not set up so that you can maximize your time drawing or amount drawn. It is set up so you will have something to live on until and between new jobs. The only thing is, be sure this new job is not as an independent contractor or that it is not paying "under the table." Even if it is in another state, they have to be an unemployment tax paying employer in that state.

 

[pattytx]

Just so you know, I never answer extension questions.

 

[commentator]

This isn't really an extension question, though. This is a person who thinks they might be messing up things by accepting another temporary job. Whether there is an extension or not, most of the time, this answer is no. Because you can't outsmart the unemployment quarters, and the claim (with or without extensions) will always end. Re-earnings are a great thing to have!

Right now, everything is set up to wind down as of the end of February. I so LOVED that nice lady OP who told us the last extension-extension (is there really such a thing???) was a done deal, about two months before congress voted on it. I'm glad she has inside knowledge, but I sure don't.

 

[CAunemployed]

Well, first off, please let me say thank you to 'commentator' for trying to help me answer my question. I would have asked someone at the Unemployment Office, but it is literally next to impossible to get anyone on the phone.

I believe that I misled you in my original post when I said the following:

"A friend called me up today an offered me a potential 2 month contract in Virginia."

In actuality, he has not offered me any position. He called me to see if I would be interested in such a thing if he could get his company to offer it to me. I'm well aware that to turn down a job while on unemployment and then to accept more payments by falsifying my claim form would be fraud, and it was never my intention to convey that to you.

As you correctly guessed, this is not a simple extension question; I'm simply trying to figure out what this extremely short term contract would do to my eligibility to reapply for financial assistance once that two month contract is over if I can't find any more work, should I be offered the job in the first place.

As I mentioned before it is next to impossible to get anyone from the EDD on the phone. Their 800 number gets me nowhere... I've logged over 2000 calls with no response. The only time that I've ever been able to talk with a human from the EDD is when I made a mistake on my first claim form and after three months of waiting my telephone interview came about and I was able to speak with a very short-tempered representative for approximately two and a half minutes. My goal in posting here is to learn as much as I can about the rules of this process ahead of time so that I can be well-informed to my rights. Unfortunately, I am severely uneducated with the rules of Unemployment because this is the first time in 16 years of working that I've ever had to file for it. I'm also too poor to consult a lawyer and I don't know any lawyers personally of whom I could solicit free advice... hence me posting here.

I really do appreciate all of the information that you've given me so far and if you would be so kind, I have a few follow-up questions based on your response.

You said:

"The only thing is, be sure this new job is not as an independent contractor or that it is not paying "under the table." Even if it is in another state, they have to be an unemployment tax paying employer in that state."

This means that I have to be considered an employee of the company in order to have "re-earnings", thereby allowing me to claim benefits again when the two month contract is over? If it was an independent contractor position would I be ineligible to reapply because I willfully terminated my original UI claim? Is the only type of job that I cannot have in order to refile an independent contractor position? If this is indeed an independent contractor position is there any way for me to pay a percentage of my income towards unemployment so that I can refile when it is over?

Please excuse this line of questions. My goal is not to try to maximize my time to draw from unemployment (I assure you, there is absolutely nothing that I want more than to be able to have a full time job earning a paycheck right now), I'm just trying to make sure that I can support my family and not put them and our future in jeopardy.

Thanks again for your patience and generosity. It is more appreciated than you know.

 

[commentator]

Perfectly okay. I apologise for the national situation of unemployment services everywhere. In my state, since 2008, the work load for the unemployment system has increased approximately 12x. I understand why things are so rough, and why it's tough to get a phone answered, but even attorneys who do not work with unemployment cannot answer questions related to your claim specifically. That takes someone within the system. You have to keep calling.(I know, I know....it's awful!)

But since all state systems are set up on a federally installed framework, I can, though I do not live in CA, answer very general questions. If you accept an independent contractor position, your wages will not count as re-earnings. You will simply stop filing for your extension benefits the first week you work, and then when the job ends, you will re-file. Your eligiblity will not be compromised. You'll explain that you missed some weeks due to working as a contractor, but this will not make you ineligible when you refile.

If there are still weeks of the extension you are now on available to you, you will be able to pick up and draw these out. If your benefit year has passed by then, (which I am sure it will have done)you will first have to file a regular claim again, and it will be determined that you are not eligible for it, because you do not have re-earnings.

Then, if there is more of that federal extension out there that you were drawing, you'll be able to get it. If you have not drawn out all the extension you are on right now, that will most likely be available to you. You were told how many weeks this "tier" would provide when you begun it, usually around 13 weeks.

At the present time, all extensions are due to run out at the end of February. That means you would be able to finish the one you were already on, but if you refile after the end of February, there will not be another one for you to go to. And since you have no re-earnings, there will not be any more regular unemployment, either.

The wages you make working as an independent contractor do not count at all toward your re-earnings. Unfortunately, there is no way you can pay in on yourself and make the wages count. It has to be a genuine position with a tax paying employer, regardless of whether it is in your state or another state.

There is nothing wrong with drawing unemployment insurance when you qualify for it. You don't get it unless you qualify for it. It is not based on how poor you are. It is not welfare.

There is nothing wrong with trying to find out all you can to maximize your chances of keeping it coming until you do not need it anymore. But if your friend really wants to help you, he needs to let you work "on the books." An independent contractor job will give you a little more money, sure, but a real job, even for very low pay, would keep you able to draw a whole lot longer.
I hope this helps.

 

[CAunemployed]

Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge with me; I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. I believe that this answers the questions that I have regarding this issue. So, unless there's anything else that you think I should know or be aware of, once again, I sincerely thank you for your help.