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I received a layoff notice in April with an effective termination date of June 20th 2014. My company has an option to accelerate the effective date of the layoff, so I accelerated the effective date to May 23, 2014. I stayed until May 23rd and terminated on that day with a layoff status.
Am I still eligible to receive unemployment? I applied and then I had a phone interview and the interviewer asked me the effective day of the layoff. I told him May 23. Then he asked me to send him a copy of my layoff notice. I then told him that the date on the paperwork would be different since it had an effective date of June 20th. I then told him that I had accelerated my layoff. Well....I then realized I probably should not have said that because then he started asking all kinds of questions about why I accelerated the date. I could have kicked myself!
Do you think I did myself in? Or am I still eligible since it seems like the employer was the moving party by issuing me the 60 notice to begin with and my employer did give me the option to accelerate my layoff.
I forgot some information above. I am in California and my employer is a huge aerospace company, so the option to accelerate a layoff is not just something that was verbally said. There are well documented procedures that allow an employee to accelerate their layoff.
I love the CA UIBDG - just search 'accelerated layoff' and this is what you get:
Quote:
Leaving Prior to Effective Time
Frequently after notice of a quit, layoff, or discharge has been given, either the claimant or the employer will act to accelerate the separation. Such action can alter the character of the separation.
Title 22, Section 1256-1(d) provides:
In the following situations the employee is the moving party in terminating the employment and thus the employee has voluntarily left his or her employment:
(4) The employee leaves work prior to the effective date of a discharge and is not paid beyond the last day actually worked.
Leaving Dependent Upon Option or Contingency
Sometimes an employer may notify the claimant that he or she will be discharged or laid off on a certain date, but gives the individual the option of staying until that date or leaving at once. Normally the claimant would not become the moving party to the separation by accepting the option to leave immediately.
For example, in P-B-166, the claimant's employer notified her on July 29 that she was to be discharged because of unsatisfactory work. The employer gave her the option of leaving at once or staying until July 31, the end of the pay period. The claimant left immediately and was paid only for the time worked. In holding that the claimant's acceptance of the option to accelerate the termination date did not convert the separation to a voluntary quit, the Board said:
We conclude in the present case that, where the employer discharged the claimant with an option to accept the discharge as effective at once or to accept the discharge as effective in a day or so,
by accepting the option to have the discharge effective at once, the claimant did not become the moving party in terminating the employment relationship.
While the limited option in this case involved only two additional working days, since the Board did not specifically define the length of "a day or so," presumably a somewhat longer period could be involved without disturbing the Board's rationale.
Thank you for the information!!!!! That is exactly my situation! I hope the interviewer sees/knows that. He just kept saying on the phone that what I told him about the accelerated layoff could change my claim. He was sort of mean and kept questioning me about why I did that. It seemed to me to be a good idea at the time to accelerate it. I felt like a dead man (woman) walking and I just wanted to move on and go out and start looking for another job. There were no jobs where I was and I am older, so I felt like I had no hope of anything there.
Hopefully I don't have to do an appeal. I will probably find out in the next week or so if I got approved or denied. This is all so stressful. Wish I could point them to that information that you gave me before they have a chance to deny me. I know I told him that I did an accelerated layoff. Is it just the interviewer that makes the decision? Or does he talk to others or a board or something. If it is just the interviewer....I feel doomed. He was very mean and it seemed like he thought everything I said was a lie. UGH!
Thank you for the information!!!!! That is exactly my situation! I hope the interviewer sees/knows that. He just kept saying on the phone that what I told him about the accelerated layoff could change my claim. He was sort of mean and kept questioning me about why I did that.
It may be he was trying to determine if you had initiated the early termination (became the moving party) instead of availing yourself of the employer offer. As long as you stuck to your story that you were not the moving party and that your employer offered this option, hopefully he won't invent new facts. Also, if this guy has a question, I would hope he ran his decision past a supervisor before making the final determination. These people shouldn't be islands onto themselves - but you never know. We have had stories where if the deputy can't figure it out, the claim gets buried.
If there is a denial, try calling EDD first and tell them decision is clearly contrary to UIBDG and can a supervisor review your case immediately, rather than you going through the appeal process. Ask for a supervisor - or if there is phone to the appeals section, call them.
This is the first time I've recommended anyone do this, but a denial would be a clear contravention of the CA Code and will delay your benefits for at least six weeks. CA is very prompt on hearing appeals, but earliest you would be scheduled would be the end of July - totally unnecessary delay. You will win the appeal.
Alternatively, if there is a denial and you get nowhere when you call EDD, do not hesitate to email (email is more effective than phone) your CA state legislator immediately. CA is trying to improve its appeal reversal rate which has been over 50%. Usually the legislators respond promptly with good results. This is an issue which should never see an appeal and, at worst, only needs a redetermination if the deputy errs.
So today in the mail I received something from EDD. It was a short paragraph on a piece of paper that said the following:
Week paid 06-21-14 $XXX.XX (my dollar amount here)
Benefits are reduced by $XX.XX (I won't put the dollar amount) according to your request to withhold federal income tax. This amount was forwarded on your behalf to the internal revenue service.
Your claim balance after this payment is $XXXXX.XX.
Unemployment compensation is taxable. A question on the claim form allows you to request federal income tax withholding at 10% of your payable amount. You make a new withholding choice on each claim you submit.
So what does this mean? Did they approve me? It sounds like in the letter that they paid me, but I have not gotten any letter saying I was approved, nor have I received any debit card.
Then I got a letter for an interview on June 9th. All seemed OK from interview.
Then I said in one of my weekly claims that I received severance pay.
So then another interview was scheduled on June 19th supposedly to ask about severance pay. But when the interviewer called, he said it was a "courtesy call" and then that is when I volunteered the "I took an accelerated layoff" information.
In between there, I received a letter like I got today (short one page paragraph), that said:
Week Paid 05-31-14 $.00
No benefits are payable because the week ending 05-31-14 was used as a waiting period week.
So what happened to the weeks of 5-7 and 5-14?
I don't think they could make this anymore confusing if they tried....or maybe I am just void of a brain...(haha could explain why I was laid off) LOL
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He was sort of mean and kept questioning me about why I did that. It seemed to me to be a good idea at the time to accelerate it. I felt like a dead man (woman) walking and I just wanted to move on and go out and start looking for another job. There were no jobs where I was and I am older, so I felt like I had no hope of anything there. 
