Unemployment - CA - will I be able to win my appeal? (file, receive)

[Laney222]

Hello all - I'm new here and in need of some helpful advice

In late December, my employer sends me an email stating that effective the next payroll, they were going to reduce my salary by 50%, but increase my bonus for sales. They said it was NOT for poor job perfromance, or anything that I had done wrong, just what they needed to do to restructure their department of 2 people. I went in to discuss with my boss, stating that at the new rate of pay I would no longer be able to afford the childcare that allows me to come TO work. The boss seemed to feel badly about that and decides to not do anything until they can discuss with the company owner - my pay would remain the same - no change - until we were able to have a follow up conversation. In the meantime, I did call an EDD office near my home and was advised to go ahead and file a claim anyway to get the ball rolling. So I decided to do that, knowing that working at such a significant reduction in salary was not an option for me. It really would make no common sense. Fast forward to this week...my boss sends an email out with questions about sales bonuses to me and my coworker. Seeing this email and what is written is not what I had submitted management for my sales. Reading though the lines I see that management is basing this on MY new bonus structure - which means MY new pay structure. Keep in mind NO follow up conversation had taken place between the end of 2012 and this week. Then only in a string of emails (because this was happening on a day when I was not scheduled to come to work) did I find out that my boss met with the owner without me and decided to reduce my salary by 50% as was their plan anyway. My boss informs me that management thought I was "fine with the new changes' becuase it was noted that "I filed for unemployment". I had still been working up into this week, unsure of what I could do and what my options were with claiming unemployment.
So I had a telephone interview with EDD this week. I will say that they did not give me much time to reschedule once I got the notice in the mail (received Friday PM, interview Monday 8am-10am). Reception in my office is very spotty - the call went to voicemail. I picked up the message with a lady saying that she was calling for my interview and they would "make a decision based on the info they have". I called back 2 different numbers a total of 15 times, to no avail - got the typical EDD recordings. Emailed that night asking for a reschedule. In the middle of the week I gave my boss a letter of resignation stating that I I could not work at a 50% reduction in salary becuase I would not be able to afford the childcare that allows me to work for them. Got an email back yesterday (thursday night) saying that I would get the 1080 form with their decision - aka denial. Yesterday I get the "Notice of Uneployment Insurance Award" in the mail. I'm thinking all is okay after all! Wrong. Today (Friday) I get not one but EIGHT (yes, EIGHT!) copies of the same "Notice of Determination". Read them all verbatim and they are identical. From what I see is I am being denied because of section 1253c and it states the reason is "becuase I have placed limits on the hours/days I will work...."

Now that you have read through all that background (and THANK YOU for doing so) - here are my questions:
1. Is the reason I am being denied simply becuase I state I will not work full time? I filled the form out based on what I was doing with my previous employer - I would be interested in once again finding full time work so long as I could make enough $$ to pay for childcare and normal expenses, etc.
2. What tips do any of you have on how I can best write up my appeal? Do I just need to prepare myself to look for an appropriate full time job even though I was only doing PT with this employer? I obviously need to do this ASAP and I am fine with looking for work and holdig up my end of the bargain, but in the meantime, these unemploment benefits are critical and I need help figuring out how to best plead my case so that I can get the benefits and move forward.

Please note that I had no choice but to resign my position due to the drastic pay cut I was being forced to accept. I think that I would be entitiled to UI after reading Voluntary Quit "Title 22, Section 1256-22(b)" on the EDD website.

Any info/thoughts/suggestions are very much appreciated!!!

[Chyvan]

The 50% reduction in salary was a legitimate reason to quit provided you tried to "adjust your grievance" and could prove that you did so. The part where you sunk yourself is when you said, "I would not be able to afford the childcare that allows me to work for them."

File the appeal request. The system recoginizes greed. Therefore, you quit when your employer reduced your salary 50%, you complained about the reduction, and then they did it anyway. However, when you "write your appeal," it is nothing more than a request for an appeal. Don't go into any detail. Just say, "The determination dated MM/DD/YY is wrong. I want an appeal hearing scheduled. Sincerely yours."

However, remember the burden of proof is on you. Your employer can show up at the hearing and say, "we didn't cut the claimant's salary," and "the complainant never complained about the salary reduction."

I hope you have emails, memos, and paystubs showing your higher salary and new lower salary to help make your case. Don't say another word about childcare. You must be able to work a full or part time job provided it's suitable (pay rate is a factor). The pay is based on what you are receiving in recent previous employment vs the new offer of work. Putting it in terms of "not being able to afford childcare" is a losing argument. You have to frame it in terms of the new offer pays less (a lot less) than I was making before.

You also seem to be confusing the full vs part-time issue. If you had a part-time 20 hr/wk job paying $30K, and then get cut to $15k, you don't look for a part or full-time job paying $30K. You get a job that either is part-time at $30K like you had before, or you take a full-time job that pays $60K. You make sure that the pay RATE is about the same.

[Laney222]

Thank you, Chyvan. Your info was helpful and I will try that. Yes I do have copies of the emails and letters where the items were addressed by both myself & the management. Thanks again for your advice.