is this correct? if so I am totally confused

[unniqua]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? nj

Hi I was laid off in Jan 2010. I was on unemployment isurance on a claim I openeded Jan 17, 2010. I recieved $407 a week based on the wages( and calculations they do) I was making at my job I was laid off from. In July 2010 my regular benefits ran out and I went on Extended benefits Tier I of my 2010 claim. Still $ 407 a week. Just last week(oct. 6) I went to claim my weekly unemp which I normally do & a claim from 2008 came up! I thought this was a mistake so I called, they said I have an extension from a 2008 claim I need to use up first because I went back to work in 2008 and never used it. BUT MY 2008 claim is $107 a week A HUGE DIFFERENCE as it was a claim from a part time job. IS THIS TRUE? CAN THEY JUST STOP MY 2010 claim and say I need to use my 2008 extension first?? THIS SEEMS NUTS AS I was laid off from the 2010 job and the extension in 2010 shouldbe on that claim. PLEASE HELP AND SAY This is a mistake.

 

[commentator]

I am sorry that I can't tell you exactly what you want to hear, but unfortunately, extensions are federal money, which has nothing in the world to do with state monies. Even if it did, you'd still be constrained by their requirements that you use the claim they need to pay from, not the one you prefer to receive.

And that you were previously drawing a larger amount based on your most recent claim doesn't entitle you to that amount. They had set up that extension based on your weekly benefit amount at that time, on that claim. Obviously they have made the decision to administer the money differently now.

You don't get to chose which extension you get, and it is not based on your income, financial circumstances or how bad you need the larger amount. In fact, any extension you get on unemployment benefits is a bonus from the federal government, not an entitlement.

What they are doing is emptying their coffers of that old extension money they had obligated to pay you first, before they use their federal funds to pay you the new extension. Yes, you do have to take it, at $108 a week till it is used up. But they should be clearly telling you how many weeks you'll be getting this low amount. The good news is, then after it is all gone, you'll still have the new extension you were on up to now there waiting for you. You aren't losing it, you're just having to use the old extension first.

In a regular claim, you will have no more money to draw until January of 2011. And even then, if you do have a claim that will set up, you can't draw it unless you have worked somewhere for a covered employer during this year and have some re-earnings. So I'd suggest that since you're drawing so little, you try very hard to find even some sort of temporary job, such as a temporary seasonal job through the holidays. This way, even though it is not the job of your dreams, you will still have more unemployment to draw next year while you are job hunting.

The whole extension thing with unemployment as a whole is winding to a close. Once the unemployment rates fall below a certain level they'll all be over and no one will get more than that usual 26 weeks of unemployment. Unfortunately, the way things look and feel in your area and in your personal life may not have much to do with the federal unemployment rate.

 

[unniqua]

"So I'd suggest that since you're drawing so little, you try very hard to find even some sort of temporary job, such as a temporary seasonal job through the holidays. This way, even though it is not the job of your dreams, you will still have more unemployment to draw next year while you are job hunting. "

Can u explain how this works?? at the 102 a week if I take a part time job I am done..and how would i go back on unemp if let say I only work 3 months? Also I am now looking into the training part of the unemp, wouldnt this disqualify me from all? I am so confused and I understand what happend I am just trying to piece this all together in the blind..

I am sorry that I can't tell you exactly what you want to hear, but unfortunately, extensions are federal money, which has nothing in the world to do with state monies. Even if it did, you'd still be constrained by their requirements that you use the claim they need to pay from, not the one you prefer to receive.

And that you were previously drawing a larger amount based on your most recent claim doesn't entitle you to that amount. They had set up that extension based on your weekly benefit amount at that time, on that claim. Obviously they have made the decision to administer the money differently now.

You don't get to chose which extension you get, and it is not based on your income, financial circumstances or how bad you need the larger amount. In fact, any extension you get on unemployment benefits is a bonus from the federal government, not an entitlement.

What they are doing is emptying their coffers of that old extension money they had obligated to pay you first, before they use their federal funds to pay you the new extension. Yes, you do have to take it, at $108 a week till it is used up. But they should be clearly telling you how many weeks you'll be getting this low amount. The good news is, then after it is all gone, you'll still have the new extension you were on up to now there waiting for you. You aren't losing it, you're just having to use the old extension first.

In a regular claim, you will have no more money to draw until January of 2011. And even then, if you do have a claim that will set up, you can't draw it unless you have worked somewhere for a covered employer during this year and have some re-earnings. So I'd suggest that since you're drawing so little, you try very hard to find even some sort of temporary job, such as a temporary seasonal job through the holidays. This way, even though it is not the job of your dreams, you will still have more unemployment to draw next year while you are job hunting.

The whole extension thing with unemployment as a whole is winding to a close. Once the unemployment rates fall below a certain level they'll all be over and no one will get more than that usual 26 weeks of unemployment. Unfortunately, the way things look and feel in your area and in your personal life may not have much to do with the federal unemployment rate.