Not being up on the schedule = lay off

[Gen9]

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

I was hired on as a customer service representative with a company part-time. This October, I would be working with them for a year. Since my being hired, I went from working 4 days a week part-time (avg. 10-20 hrs/wk) to all of my scheduled shifts had been taken away from me (including the one full-time shift I had) and replaced with this on-call, non-scheduled "schedule" setup for me to work only on Saturdays...if they need me. I havent heard anything from my employer regarding work this week and I feel like this is their way of getting out of the door without having to pay me unemployment by firing me.

My question is, could I file for unemployment? If they stop placing me on the schedule or calling me for work isn't it essentially a lay-off??

 

[justalayman]

you can put all of this in one thread

 

[cbg]

could I file for unemployment? Yes.

If they stop placing me on the schedule or calling me for work isn't it essentially a lay-off?? No, not necessarily. But it doesn't matter; you don't have to be laid off or fired to collect unemployment if your hours have been drastically reduced.

 

[commentator]

File immediately. You might as well get a claim set up and see if you have one to draw. You can set it up and it stays in place for a year from the date of filing, regardless of whether you get to draw any of the benefits out or not. To receive benefits, You will need to clearly show that you are working all the hours they have available for you. They'll try to verify this with the employer.

Any Sunday through Saturday week (regardless of how you are paid, whether you're paid weekly or monthly, or held behind, or whatever it is) any week when you have worked very little, or not worked (not by your own choice) and have been or will be paid less in gross wages than the weekly benefit amount in the unemployment claim you've set up, you can report the earnings and draw a partial unemployment claim. This does, however mean not just the wages in the week from this one job, but the gross wages in the week from all work you are eventually going to be paid for in the week that is being considered.


This of course means that you had enough wages in the past two years from covered employers to set up an unemployment claim. If you are working elsewhere at the same time as this little job (like at the dry cleaners, as you seem to be), and your gross wages from both jobs in a week are more than your weekly benefit amount in unemployment is less than the gross wages from both jobs combined, you won't be able to draw any money right now. But go on and set up the claim now. Then you'll be able to see how much you'd be able to make on full week of unemployment and you'll know that any week you go below this amount, at both places, you have a claim in place and you can file for a week of benefits on it.

This will save time and thought if you get terminated from the dry cleaners, or if your hours should be reduced there as well.
Be sure and report everywhere you are working. They will be able to see the wages anyhow.