Part-time Faculty Unemployment Benefits
What you need to know:
Part-time faculty should remember that you are eligible for unemployment compensation benefits between semesters and over the summer break. You are eligible unless you are working another job between semesters or over the summer and you are earning more than your unemployment grant would be.
When to apply:
Apply as soon as your teaching assignment is ended, as you will receive benefits only from the date that you apply. It can take up to 10 days to process claims.
Where to apply:
By phone: 1-800-300-5616
Online: http://www.edd.ca.gov/Unemployment/
What you need to apply:
As soon as you give your last final exam, you should contact the local Employment Development Dept. (EDD) office and file a claim, or reactivate the one you have from summer (if you applied during summer break). If it is a new claim, you will have a one-week waiting period before benefits start, so do not delay.
Class assignments are not reasonably assured! When applying, tell them about all your jobs, since your benefit is based on all your income over the previous year. When they ask if you have a job to go back to next semester, you should an- swer: “Not with reasonable assurance. I only have a tentative assignment, contingent on enrollment, funding and pro- gram needs.”
This is important:
Do not just tell them that you have an assignment for Fall or Spring or you will be disqualified. Accord- ing to the Ed. Code, part-timers, as a class, do not have “reasonable assurance” of a job and hence are eligible for bene- fits between terms. The specific language from Ed Code section 87482.3 (d) reads: “In all cases, part-time faculty assign- ments shall be temporary in nature, contingent on enrollment and funding, and subject to program changes, and no part -time faculty member shall have reasonable assurance of continued employment at any point, irrespective of the status, length of service, or reemployment preference of that part-time, temporary faculty member.” Be prepared to show a copy of your last contract which has this language on it, plus cite the specific case law.
Be sure to fill out all job search forms correctly, and appear as directed in person or by phone or mail. You should not have any problems. Be sure to do this. It is your right, not charity.
For more information download this manual:
ACCESS TO UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE BENEFITS FOR CONTINGENT FACULTY
A manual for applicants and a strategy to gain full rights to benefits. From the Chicago Coalition on Contingent Academic Labor
Excerpted from the 2019 Nov-Dec UPM Newsletter – editors Dave Patterson and Sarah Frye