Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I was laid off on Feb. 29 and submitted my UI claim the next day. That's been set up, and I'm qualified for the maximum, $450 per week. While looking for a new job, I've connected with some people to do 1099 contract work, which I have a ton of experience doing.
Given the rates they pay, I will likely exceed the $450 per week while working on projects. That's not a big deal, but I have a few questions:
1. I need to tell EDD when I'm working, even if I won't be paid for a while, correct? For example, one client I just connected with wants me to submit a monthly invoice, which is payable in 14 days. That means the work I'm doing for her this week won't result in income for me for over a month, because I have to wait until 3/31 to submit my first invoice and then wait 14 days to get paid for it.
2. What happens if I get stiffed for the payment? Thankfully, I've had very little experience with that during the many years I've been doing contract work, but it can happen, and if it does, I assume I'll have a fight on my hands with EDD. Not sure how I prove I didn't receive a payment.
3. If I earn more than $450 in a week, that week goes into a bank for later use, correct? For example, let's say I earn more than my UI benefit for two weeks, then I hit a 3-week dry spell, and then I earn more than my benefit for another two weeks after that. I can collect my $450 per week for those three weeks in between correct? And then those four weeks where I earned more than $450 just sit there to be used later, correct?
4. Sometimes I work as a W2 contractor through an agency, which may or may not lead to a permanent job. (Last year it did: I worked for the company for a few weeks through an agency and then they hired me full-time.) If I land a gig like that, will EDD assume I now have a new employer and end my UI benefits? Just like 1099 work, being a W2 contractor is something that I might do for a few weeks, or a month or two, and then it could end and I'll be unemployed again.
It's like being a temp, so I assume EDD would look at that the same way they look at getting hired through a temp agency.
5. How do partial weeks work? For example, let's say I earn some money this week, but it's less than $450. I know EDD will pay me the difference between the two, but how does that count toward my 26 weeks of benefits? Do they multiply 26 by $450 and say that's the maximum amount I can claim over the period that I'm eligible for benefits?
I noticed my claim expires a year from now, so I assume that I have a year to use six months worth of UI benefits, if I end up having six months where I earn less than $450 per week.
Thanks for any advice anyone can offer. I have never been laid off before, so this is a new world for me.
I was laid off on Feb. 29 and submitted my UI claim the next day. That's been set up, and I'm qualified for the maximum, $450 per week. While looking for a new job, I've connected with some people to do 1099 contract work, which I have a ton of experience doing.
You haven't been out of work long enough to be resorting to this yet. It will cause you no end of grief.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacktheRedwood
1. I need to tell EDD when I'm working, even if I won't be paid for a while, correct? For example, one client I just connected with wants me to submit a monthly invoice, which is payable in 14 days. That means the work I'm doing for her this week won't result in income for me for over a month, because I have to wait until 3/31 to submit my first invoice and then wait 14 days to get paid for it.
Correct, via your claim form.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacktheRedwood
2. What happens if I get stiffed for the payment? Thankfully, I've had very little experience with that during the many years I've been doing contract work, but it can happen, and if it does, I assume I'll have a fight on my hands with EDD. Not sure how I prove I didn't receive a payment.
Not UI's problem. You have to do collection work.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacktheRedwood
3. If I earn more than $450 in a week, that week goes into a bank for later use, correct? For example, let's say I earn more than my UI benefit for two weeks, then I hit a 3-week dry spell, and then I earn more than my benefit for another two weeks after that. I can collect my $450 per week for those three weeks in between correct? And then those four weeks where I earned more than $450 just sit there to be used later, correct?
Not exactly. With a bank, you can withdraw the money anytime you want. When the UI people hold it in reserve, your access can be blocked because of eligibility issues or it expires.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacktheRedwood
4. Sometimes I work as a W2 contractor through an agency, which may or may not lead to a permanent job. (Last year it did: I worked for the company for a few weeks through an agency and then they hired me full-time.) If I land a gig like that, will EDD assume I now have a new employer and end my UI benefits? Just like 1099 work, being a W2 contractor is something that I might do for a few weeks, or a month or two, and then it could end and I'll be unemployed again.
It's like being a temp, so I assume EDD would look at that the same way they look at getting hired through a temp agency.
No. This looks more like self-employment. It can be a problem. Also, temp agencies know more about getting claimants denied UI so you don't want to work for them either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacktheRedwood
5. How do partial weeks work? For example, let's say I earn some money this week, but it's less than $450. I know EDD will pay me the difference between the two, but how does that count toward my 26 weeks of benefits? Do they multiply 26 by $450 and say that's the maximum amount I can claim over the period that I'm eligible for benefits?
I noticed my claim expires a year from now, so I assume that I have a year to use six months worth of UI benefits, if I end up having six months where I earn less than $450 per week.
Partial UI is a rip off. You make an incremental $5 to $6 dollars per hour. I'd rather sleep in and stay out of rush hour traffic.
Do yourself a favor, look for a job that is about as good or BETTER than you had before. Just how many times in your life have you been paid to do next to nothing. Enjoy yourself. The UI system starts to break down when you have multiple jobs and starting and stopping of your claim. I learned this stuff the hard way, and I can't stand it when people keep reinventing the wheel. You want a job that takes you completely off UI and for a good long time.
Reopening a claim is no picnic. You spend hours trying to get through to EDD to do it.
Thanks for the advice. I figured if I did some contract work here and there, I could still collect UI benefits during the weeks when the work wasn't available, but it sounds like EDD could consider me self-employed if I do that and end my claim. (FWIW, this is work I can do from home, so at least I don't have to commute somewhere every day to do it.)
Unfortunately, I had no choice but to do something to earn some income because I have kids, a mortgage, a car payment, etc. My severance was meager and we have no savings, so I was looking at barely squeaking through the next couple months. Since it could take a while to find a comparable job, I couldn't afford to enjoy myself.
If you can earn $10K all in one week, then sure do it. But you don't want some job that pays $500 to $600 per week. You use the word "we," make your significant other do the supplementing of the family income.
So, from what I've read here, it sounds like I will be okay if I put down "piece work" on my claim form. However, it also sounds like many people who have been in my shoes have put this kind of work down in various ways, and have been told different things by EDD reps, so who knows what will happen.
My hope was that for the duration of my UI claim, I could earn at least $1,800 a month. If I had contract work that was in excess of that, fine, but if that work went away, I assumed I could get my UI benefit again. It sounds like that may be possible, but it depends on how I put the income down on the form.
FYI - CA deducts 75% of gross earnings from the benefit, and pays the difference. What isn't paid out remains to collect at a future date - anytime within the 52-week benefit year. If benefit year expires, any monies remaining at that time are lost.
CA does allow SE work, provided you can prove you are Able and Available to search for and accept work at the same time you are doing SE work. Many people work 1099 on one-off projects.
Temp agencies are problematic as they often lie - and call end of contract work a quit. If you can prove you maintained contact w/agency immediately after job ended and for weeks thereafter, your benefits should resume. Be sure to keep good records of your contacts with the agency if you go the temp agency route. Emails are best.
So, how does one prove that they're able and available to search for an accept work while doing SE work? I have started applying to jobs and have been keeping track of those efforts. Also, the kind of SE work I am taking on is the work-from-home variety that can be done any time, so I have no problem taking on a full-time permanent job and still doing the SE work during evenings and weekends.
Also, to clarify, I'm not looking for work through temp agencies. I have signed up with a few agencies that place writers, designers, etc. into contract jobs, mostly in the tech industry (I'm in northern CA). I made the comparison to temp agencies because these companies are like those, where I would be employed through them as a W2 and submitting weekly timesheets to them (like a temp agency, they make their money by marking up my hourly rate).
There's a fair amount of contract work out there where a company might need someone to come in and, for example, work on a web site revamp for a couple months. But when it ends, I would be available for possible future assignments to them.
Much of my communication with these agencies is electronic, mostly email, which is good. They send me job opportunities by email and I reply to them if I feel I'm suited for the positions.
So, how does one prove that they're able and available to search for an accept work while doing SE work? I have started applying to jobs and have been keeping track of those efforts. Also, the kind of SE work I am taking on is the work-from-home variety that can be done any time, so I have no problem taking on a full-time permanent job and still doing the SE work during evenings and weekends.
If CA gets curious about the 1099 work, it will schedule an interview during which you explain what's what - that free-lance/SE work is done evenings and weekends.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacktheRedwood
Also, to clarify, I'm not looking for work through temp agencies. I have signed up with a few agencies that place writers, designers, etc. into contract jobs, mostly in the tech industry (I'm in northern CA). I made the comparison to temp agencies because these companies are like those, where I would be employed through them as a W2 and submitting weekly timesheets to them (like a temp agency, they make their money by marking up my hourly rate).
There's a fair amount of contract work out there where a company might need someone to come in and, for example, work on a web site revamp for a couple months. But when it ends, I would be available for possible future assignments to them.
Much of my communication with these agencies is electronic, mostly email, which is good. They send me job opportunities by email and I reply to them if I feel I'm suited for the positions.
Regardless if it's "temp" or a professional placement agency - any W2 separation will require CA contact that agency on why the work ended. In time, should you be unemployed long enough, their accounts will get hit for your unemployment benefits - so these 'agencies' do what they must to prevent that - including accusations of misconduct and quits. Just so you know. So keep good records.
There's a fair amount of contract work out there where a company might need someone to come in and, for example, work on a web site revamp for a couple months. But when it ends, I would be available for possible future assignments to them.
CA is much more forgiving than say NY on the selfemployment. However, you've got to understand if you do it often enough, there comes a point where you look like this is what you're striving for, and those running their own company are not protected when business is slow.
You've only been on UI barely a week. Depending on what you earned through 2/29, you might not have even gotten waiting week credit yet. This is a great strategy when you're in your 5th month because of the ability to qualify for a second year claim, but you need to ask yourself what would happen if you couldn't count on the $450/wk. If you can't live without it, each "job" is a new separation issue. You'll wear yourself out dealing with the UI issues, and then you'll complain about how unfair the system is (we know that), but as of now, it will be your own fault because you were warned.
I really appreciate the forewarning on that. I obviously misunderstood how this works, so I appreciate the advice from you and Ariadne22. I jumped the gun when I was laid off because this has never happened to me before, so I wanted to do whatever I could to keep my family going. While $450 a week is better than nothing, the reality is that we can't live on that. If I'm trying to keep us going on unemployment in the fifth month, then we're screwed.
What is the waiting week credit? I Googled it and found some info on the CA EDD site, but, honestly, it was really convoluted, so I was hoping someone could give me the Reader's Digest version. My brain has been swimming lately.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chyvan
CA is much more forgiving than say NY on the selfemployment. However, you've got to understand if you do it often enough, there comes a point where you look like this is what you're striving for, and those running their own company are not protected when business is slow.
You've only been on UI barely a week. Depending on what you earned through 2/29, you might not have even gotten waiting week credit yet. This is a great strategy when you're in your 5th month because of the ability to qualify for a second year claim, but you need to ask yourself what would happen if you couldn't count on the $450/wk. If you can't live without it, each "job" is a new separation issue. You'll wear yourself out dealing with the UI issues, and then you'll complain about how unfair the system is (we know that), but as of now, it will be your own fault because you were warned.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
