Colorado denied EUC thrid claim (collect, extension, file, receive)

[aaronmb]

Just got off phone with Colorado UIi benefits today, they said the $100/25% rule does not apply to me because I was collecting benefits on a prior claim. Original claim filed August 2009, expired August 2010 and told needed to file new claim ($443 on 08/09 claim $445 on 08/10 claim) was told in August 10 that i didn't Quility for EUC due to new claim. Worked a temp seasonal job 10/10-12/10. Reactivated $445 August 10 claim in Jan, 2011. Ran out in March 2011 was put back on EUC from original August 2009 claim, now benefit year has ended and told to file new claim based on wages earned with weekly benefit of $179. Said I dont quailfy for $100/25% rule because I was put on EUC from prior claim? Statute (federal) says that the $100/25% rule applies to claims ending after enactment (07/10), since my first claim ended in august (08) 2010 I dont understand why i do not qualify? What should I do? No decision to appeal just note on my claim in Co computer system saying that I do not quailfy for "Option B"? Is it worth hiring a lawyer? They seem to be going against the letter and spirit of HR 4213, which was designed to prevent a penalty for taking temporary work.
Just a side note it seemed this rep may have been fairly new and just reading notes as he was wispering outloud f3, f10. etc... and other keystrokes to use his system.

[aaronmb]

Forgot to add that in 8/10 was told that I didn't qualify for EUC due to being eligible for new claim based on part time earnings, but was paid for 2 weeks on that EUC claim in April 2011 after the switchover to EUC. They said that because I was on a "reachback" EUC claim that i am not eligible for the 25%/$100 rule, wondering if they just assume that my first claim ended before July, 2010?

Are they right or should I look into this further?

[Ariadne22]

Basically, the information you received is correct.

You now had/have THREE claims:

Claim 1 - August 2009 - $443
Claim 2 - August 2010 - $445
Claim 3 - August 2011 - $178

When a third claim is opened, that claim cannot be deferred in favor of benefits from Claim 2 or Claim 1. The opportunity for deferral would have occurred w/Claim 2 had it been $100/25% lower. It was not.

You state the tier benefits you received in April were what is left from your first claim. By now, all EUC benefits from that first claim should have been exhausted. There would be nothing further to collect - even if you could invoke HR4213. Count the weeks of EUC you have received on that claim. They should total 53.

It is possible to collect tier benefits on multiple claims. Many people have. The chronology of your claims precludes any EUC benefits from Claim 2. Based on your posts, you have exhausted all tier benefits from Claim 1.

The fact that you previously collected EUC tier benefits, however, has NOTHING to do with whether or not this last/3rd claim qualifies for EUC. It will qualify for EUC if it is large enough. However, as I said previously, there is no deferral of this claim in favor of Claim 1 which benefits you have exhausted, and Claim 2 which EUC benefits you never began prior to establishment of Claim 3.

You may want to call Colorado and ask generally how large a claim needs to be to qualify for EUC. When your state benefits from this last/3rd claim are exhausted, you may be eligible for EUC depending on when those benefits are exhausted and if the claim is large enough. Last date to exhaust state benefits and transition to Tier 1 from this last claim is December 24, 2011.

Order of payment in the event of multiple claims is:

Claim 1 - State benefits
Claim 1 - Tier benefits until Claim 2 established
Claim 2 - State benefits
Claim 1 - Tier benefits until exhausted or 3rd claim established
Claim 3 - State benefits
Claim 1 - Remaining Tier benefits
Claim 2 - Remaining Tier benefits if begun b/4 establishment of ..............Claim 3
Claim 3 - Tier benefits if claim qualifies
Claim 3 - Extended Benefits if claim qualifies

Federal unemployment legislation expires December 31, 2011. Any tier on which you are collecting at that time can be exhausted into 2012, but there is nothing beyond that. If you are still collecting the $178 state benefit at the end of the year, that you can, of course, exhaust into 2012.

[aaronmb]

Ariadne22, Thank you for the information, looks like I'm stuck with the much lower amount.

Sounds like it doesn't make a difference but I still had tier benefits available (I just went to tier 2 a few weeks ago) on the original (8/09) claim, the reason for third claim was end of benefit year, and I had enough earnings from a temp job (10/10-12/10) to open the third claim. April of 2011 was the first I collected on EUC, I have not been on unemployment the whole time since my original claim in 2009 as I had seasonal jobs in the winters of 2009/2010 & 2010/2011.
Looks like I would have been better off not taking the temporary work in 2010.

[Ariadne22]

Originally Posted by aaronmb

Ariadne22, Thank you for the information, looks like I'm stuck with the much lower amount.

Sounds like it doesn't make a difference but I still had tier benefits available (I just went to tier 2 a few weeks ago) on the original (8/09) claim, the reason for third claim was end of benefit year, and I had enough earnings from a temp job (10/10-12/10) to open the third claim. April of 2011 was the first I collected on EUC, I have not been on unemployment the whole time since my original claim in 2009 as I had seasonal jobs in the winters of 2009/2010 & 2010/2011.
Looks like I would have been better off not taking the temporary work in 2010.

Indeed, it is often the case, working while collecting unemployment can work against the claimant.

Had you not had a third claim, you would have been able to continue on the EUC tiers from the first claim AND collect the EUC tiers from the second claim provided the legislation was still in place when you reached that point. This third claim does not serve you well. Alas, that is the system.

If it is any consolation, if Congress extends the unemployment legislation or you exhaust these new state benefits before December 31, 2011, you will be able to revert back to the unused tier benefits from Claim 1 after you exhaust the state benefits from this 3rd claim.

Good luck.

ETA: One thing I will add. You could have invoked HR4213 to remain on Claim 2 EUC tier benefits IF you had not begun EUC tier benefits from Claim 1 before the establishment of Claim 2. In that case, Claim 2 would have been considered your parent claim, allowing an HR4213 deferral of Claim 3 in favor of Claim 2.

[aaronmb]

Seems sometimes the system doesn't help out those trying to do the right thing, taking what work is available such as part time or temporary positions.
I have enough benefits for 22 weeks, so assuming I don't find something by then I will be relying on the government passing another extension, to get back to the rest of the tier money on my 1st claim.
$443 was hard enough to get by on, pretty sure the $179 will drive me to file bankruptcy , oh well that's something I probably should have done when I first became unemployed anyway instead of struggling with credit card payments eating up a good portion of my benefits anyway.

[jasper12]

The problem with unemployment, is that the rules basically change on a weekly basis. Hiring an attorney is not going to help you, with an agency that has rules that change so fast. A waste of money.

That can be the problem with part time work, and temp work, it can put you on a new claim, at a much lower benefit amount, rather than the extension at the higher rate.

[aaronmb]

My only hope I think is that almost all of the wages used for this 3rd claim are from seasonal employment and should not be able to count outside of the companies seasonal period, but I doubt that will help as I have had them count these seasonal wages which should not have been included before. I even got a decision last fall saying that they could not be used outside the seasonal period, but nothing was ever changed in my weekly benefit or total amount after that decision.
Also wondering if I cancel this new claim and refile next month (new quarter) if that may help? Gotta look into the formulas for calculating eligibility and total benefit.
If I was not eligible for a new claim next quarter would that allow me to back to my claim 1 tiers?

[Ariadne22]

I don't believe Colorado will allow you to cancel. Also, you don't have a choice on whether or not to file a new claim. One of the federal requirements for EUC eligibility is that anyone collecting EUC be evaluated quarterly for new state claim eligibility. The states must do this.

The federal government this year sent out a directive because some states like NJ were ignoring the quarterly evaluation process and paying EUC when the claimant would have qualified for state benefits. NJ still is doing this, actually, per reports we've had lately. They automatically move people to Tier 1 and pay Tier 1 from the latest claim without first testing earnings eligibility. After Tier 1 from the last claim has been exhausted, NJ has then been putting people back on their unused tier benefits from earlier claims. That is noncompliance with federal regs. Nonetheless, they are doing it.

If there are earnings to qualify for a new state claim, those state benefits must be paid BEFORE federal benefits. In other words, the federal government does not want to use its money to pay benefits if there is a chance you qualify for state benefits, because the states borrow money from the feds in order to pay state benefits and pay the feds interest on this money; there is no cost to the state and the feds bear the entire burden for federal EUC benefits. Therefore, state benefits must be paid first.

Your only hope might be to appeal the use of seasonal earnings in the establishment of this third claim. If you have documentation on this, of course submit it. Know that Colorado may suspend payment of benefits on the third claim pending a decision on the appeal, so you could be without any money for two months or so, depending on how quickly Colorado handles these things. Some states are backlogged six months.

[aaronmb]

Thank you for all the info.

That probably would be a new one for the hearing officer, a claimant appealing to have wages EXCLUDED from his claim.

According to FAQ's on CDLE website you can cancel a claim in the first 12 days after filing by writing or calling. But that doesn't look like it would do any good except shorten the new claim by about 6 weeks, while not getting paid anything for 4 weeks if I waited and refiled in October.