Unemployment first timer, but offer of a temporary (not temp agency) job. Advice Needed. (collect, file)

[StillPunky]

Hey all!

Looking for some information and hope that someone with more experience than I can give me some advice.

I've been employed at the same place for the last 7 years. It's a large media company out of NYC (I work remotely from CA) and they're restructuring their brand, and as a result, retiring the digital properties that I worked on. In effect, my job is being eliminated.

So, I will be filing for unemployment for the first time. My salary has been good, and I will likely get the full amount allowed in CA for unemployment. I have been applying for other positions non-stop, however, because not having a job makes me incredibly anxiety stricken. I have recently been offered a temporary administrative position for a local university. The setting and workplace is nice, and it seems like it would be a nice place to work, although it pays less and it is a temporary job and the person I would be filling in for would return in 4 to 5 months. Then, unless they really liked me and wanted to shuffle me off to a different department, I would once again be out of work. This temporary job is not through a temp agency, it is just being offered to me as a position with limited duration.

I will not file for unemployment until 10/1 because that is when my full time position ends. I could, effectively, start the temporary position before that, meaning, I guess I would not file for unemployment at all. My question is, if I KNOW a job is temporary when I take it, could I still file and be awarded unemployment when that position is over? Will the fact that it pays less than my current position end up hurting me as far as unemployment goes if I then file at the end of the temporary position?

Sorry to be so long winded and to ask a potential obvious question, but I have never made a UI claim before. I have actually never gone one single day without continuous employment since I have been 13, so this is all very new and makes me very anxious. Thanks in advance for your help! :-)

[Chyvan]

Originally Posted by StillPunky

I have recently been offered a temporary administrative position for a local university. The setting and workplace is nice, and it seems like it would be a nice place to work, although it pays less

This was enough for me to read to tell you NOT to take it (at least right this second). School employees have a terrible time on UI because there is always that question: are you on break between academic terms or vacations? Second, the job pays less. That means that you'd be immediately lowering the bar for what is suitable employment for you in the future, and depriving yourself of your canvassing period.

Originally Posted by StillPunky

if I KNOW a job is temporary when I take it, could I still file and be awarded unemployment when that position is over?

Yes, you could, but the better question is: Is it guaranteed? No. New job means new separation issue. As it is right now on 10/1, you are most certainly eligible. However, start this new job at a school, and with less pay, and then you might have a school that fights you tooth and nail, and unless you know what to collect while working as evidence, you might have a problem.

Now, for what's practical. I'd suggest that you stall, and do some thinking and research. I think you should wait until after you lose your job, file for UI (hopefully before Oct 3 at close of business), claim and get your waiting week credit by staying out of work for about a week maybe two. Then, if the temp job is still available, and you don't think they're going to complicate your UI in the future, then I think it's ok to take the job.

You'll have 26 week of UI that you locked in from this job you are losing. The 4 to 5 months of temp work you get AFTER you've filed and been approved and get waiting week credit will in all probability be available to you to draw AFTER the temp jobs ends. Then if you are still out of work 26 weeks from then, your earnings from the temp job plus your lag earnings from this job you are losing, will set you up to get an additional 26 weeks of benefits should you need them starting around October, 2015.

Trust me, stuff happens and when you can structure your work and layoffs appropriately, you'd be crazy not to take advantage of it.

[Ariadne22]

Originally Posted by StillPunky

I will not file for unemployment until 10/1 because that is when my full time position ends. I could, effectively, start the temporary position before that, meaning, I guess I would not file for unemployment at all.

My question is, if I KNOW a job is temporary when I take it, could I still file and be awarded unemployment when that position is over?

Will the fact that it pays less than my current position end up hurting me as far as unemployment goes if I then file at the end of the temporary position?

Yes, you can file in 4-5 months. Filing at that time won't hurt your benefit, because you will still have high quarters from your previous employment in the base period and enough total earnings to pay a full 26 weeks. (Base period if you file in March 2015 will be October 2013-September 2014).

However, if you file now, in October, you will still have three-six months from your earlier employer at high wages in your LAG for a new claim at your benefit year-end in October 2015 - and the temp job will be enough evidence of a connection to the labor market to provide CA reason to grant you a new claim at the bye in October 2015, should you not find other employment. (Base period if you file now is April 2013-March 2014 - LAG earnings will be April 2014-Sept. 2014).

Know that after the temp job ends and before you can resume benefits on the October claim, CA will investigate the reasons for the separation from the university. Hopefully, there are none - but employers do lie. At some point in the future, the University account will be charged for your benefits - so there is always in incentive for certain employers to obstruct a UE claim. The lower pay also lowers the bar for what is suitable employment for you going forward. The alternative to not taking this job, of course, is to concentrate on finding another permanent position.

If I were you, I would establish a claim on 10/1 - even if you never begin benefits. This way, you're covered for 26 weeks benefits until 10/2015, and, if you take the univ. job, will have new claim eligibility in October 2016 - with a claim equally as good as the one you have now because your old employer high quarters will remain in that base period. (April 2014-March 2015).

[StillPunky]

Thank you so much!

This is all very confusing...LAG times and all..but I think the consensus is to still file on the first day after my job ends (10/1) and to then take my time hunting for a job. I feel super pressured to just get into any job that will pay me ASAP. Also, it will be ok with a temporary position if it is the right temporary position, I will then be able to file again/reopen a claim.

I worked for 10 years in HR (prior to switching my career to digital publishing) and I fought UI claims at that position, but I only did so when it seemed legitimate to fight a claim, for example...when an employee walked off the job after punching another employee, etc. If we had to let someone go, well then...unless it was a grievous harm that the employee did, the claim wasn't fought.

[Chyvan]

Nowadays, there are a lot of claims, and some companies are fighting all of them because they can, and do get away with it because too many people are ignorant of what UI is and isn't.