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Hello, my situation may be a bit unique. For the past 5 years I have had a seasonal full-time job in NJ. I work about 8 months and then get laid off and collect unemployment benefits for the 4 months that I am laid off. Also, for the last 5 years I have had a part-time job that I work just one day at. When I am collecting unemployment I am still working my part time job for the one day and claim the hours that I work for the one day when I claim benefits for unemployment. Just recently my wife got a good full-time job which she will be starting next month. I really, really hate my part-time job (it's in retail) and would like to quit soon since I don't need to work the part-time job anymore as my wife will be working soon. My question is this, if I were to quit the part-time job say a few weeks BEFORE I get laid off from my full-time job, will I still be able to receive unemployment benefits for my full-time job? Keep in mind that I am NOT trying to get unemployment benefits for the part-time job that I am looking to quit. I don't know if NJ Unemployment's rationale would be "Why did you quit your part-time job knowing that a few weeks later you would be getting laid off from your full-time job?" Any help/feedback would be appreciated. If quitting my part-time job would affect my unemployment benefits than I guess I will have to stay there. Thanks!
Last edited by MooDad; 07-31-2016 at 04:09 PM..
Reason: spelling error
No, it's not. Lots of people work two jobs, and thankfully you're finding out BEFORE you make a mistake that will be a pain to undo.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MooDad
My question is this, if I were to quit the part-time job say a few weeks BEFORE I get laid off from my full-time job, will I still be able to receive unemployment benefits for my full-time job? Keep in mind that I am NOT trying to get unemployment benefits for the part-time job that I am looking to quit.
Short answer, yes, but you must do it correctly, and it won't be the way you've planned below. Also, you can't control what job pays your UI. All the wages from all employers come into play, and besides that I don't care if you did want to collect as much as you could for as long as you could. If you know the rules, and game the system, then so be it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MooDad
I don't know if NJ Unemployment's rationale would be "Why did you quit your part-time job knowing that a few weeks later you would be getting laid off from your full-time job?"
In a sense, that's exactly what they do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MooDad
If quitting my part-time job would affect my unemployment benefits than I guess I will have to stay there.
You can quit a part time job to focus on a full-time job, but this probably won't work for you. You know that you'll be laid off (you can't know about your lay off to pull this off), and you can't really get away with lying about it (don't be tempted) because you have an established pattern of getting laid off. Besides that, your full-time employer might very well say, "yeah, we lay the guy off every year." So don't try.
What you have to do is quit the part-time, one-day-a week job 8 UI weeks (meaning that from Sunday to Saturday, there must be 8 of them prior to your layoff which could mean that might have to quit almost 10 weeks ahead of time to make sure there are 8 full UI weeks sandwiched in there) BEFORE you get laid off, and save your pay stubs and be able to show that you earned 10 times your weekly benefit amount. Then you will have purged the disqualification from the quit of the part-time job, and you will be able to collect because you were separated from your full-time job under a nondisqualifying separation.
Your plan to quit the week before will NOT go over well.
If anything goes wrong with the last day of work from either your part-time or full time job or you miscalculate your pay, you will be sorry.
Another thing that could go wrong (rare, most employers are stupid this way), your part-time job will call you and offer you your job back.
Thanks for your help Chyvan; much appreciated! So basically in order for me to collect for my full-time job, I would need to quit my part-time job at least a full 8 weeks before getting laid off from my full-time job in order to prevent me from being disqualified for benefits? Just curious how you know this as I could not find any info about this from the NJ Unemployment site? Not that I don't believe you, just wondering where you may have found this info, specifically the part about the 8 full weeks. Anyway, thanks again for your help & the info that you provided!
I would need to quit my part-time job at least a full 8 weeks before getting laid off from my full-time job in order to prevent me from being disqualified for benefits?
8 UI weeks. If you quit the one job on Monday, you're a day into the week so it doesn't count. If you get laid off on a Friday on the back end, you didn't finish the week, so it doesn't count. 8 full UI weeks Sunday to Saturday.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MooDad
Just curious how you know this as I could not find any info about this from the NJ Unemployment site?
Why would you? They aren't in the business of telling you everything you need to know. I know who to purge a disqualification and what to look for.
You might find it when you learn what happens when you quit a job, and then start a new job, and get canned after the first day. Those people don't get UI either until they work 8 weeks and earn 10 times the weekly benefit amount.
We had a thread where a two-job pregnant worker in NJ quit her one-day a month job, and then got canned from her full-time job after the beginning of the year. We learned a lot from her.
So basically in order for me to collect for my full-time job, I would need to quit my part-time job at least a full 8 weeks before getting laid off from my full-time job in order to prevent me from being disqualified for benefits? Just curious how you know this as I could not find any info about this from the NJ Unemployment site? Not that I don't believe you, just wondering where you may have found this info, specifically the part about the 8 full weeks.
Quitting "just because" is not for good cause.
Per NJ:
Quote:
To remove a disqualification for voluntary leaving, you must return to work for at least 8 weeks, earn at least 10 times your weekly benefit rate, and then become unemployed through no fault of your own.
The new work must be in employment covered under the unemployment compensation law.
Chyvan is correct. You need to quit the part-time job at least eight weeks prior to losing your full-time job in order to collect immediately. We've had many discussions on this issue over the years. That's how Chyvan knows.
Thank-you again Chyvan and thank-you to Ariadne22. Another question, if I do quit my part-time job at least a full 8 weeks before I get laid off from my full-time job, would I even need to give NJ Unemployment the reason for why I voluntarily quit my part-time job when the time comes to file for benefits or would that even matter since I quit at least 8 weeks before getting laid off? If I say I quit because I just did not want to work there anymore, could they still disqualify me from benefits even thought it was past that 8 week mark? Thanks again!
Thank-you again Chyvan and thank-you to Ariadne22. Another question, if I do quit my part-time job at least a full 8 weeks before I get laid off from my full-time job, would I even need to give NJ Unemployment the reason for why I voluntarily quit my part-time job when the time comes to file for benefits or would that even matter since I quit at least 8 weeks before getting laid off? If I say I quit because I just did not want to work there anymore, could they still disqualify me from benefits even thought it was past that 8 week mark? Thanks again!
They will still want to see proof that you earned 10xWBA and worked 8 weeks. Their database may not be up to date, so you may need to provide paystubs.
Well I will still be working at my full-time job for at least 8 weeks after I quit my part-time job, so wouldn't that suffice? I would have my paystubs for those weeks, but they would see in their system since unemployment insurance fees would be taken out with my taxes for those 8 weeks which would show that I worked for at least 8 weeks afterwards, right? Thanks again for your input!
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