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Old 03-18-2010, 07:43 AM
 
7 posts, read 47,783 times
Reputation: 11

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I tried to ask this yesterday and it was removed. I have searched for a long time to see if my question was answered and my unusual situation has not been discussed as far as I can see. Plenty of folks have lost their part time jobs AFTER recieving UI but this is different.

Last week, I had two part time jobs. One my own business as sole proprietor and only employee with regular hours and overhead, and one for someone else with payroll and UI taken out etc (waiting tables). The second job "pays the bills" so to speak and now it is lost.

I lost my second job and I worked there the necessary number of months and dollar amts. However, technically because I have 21 regular hours at my business I am not available to work 7 days a week at the drop of a hat.

I am wondering if I can collect UI for loss of second job due to lack of work?
How will my business factor in? (I have been operating at a loss so far this year due to the economy.)
My office overhead is about 300 a week.....would I have to declare what I made there even though it may not even reach my overhead needs/dollar amts?

Any insight is welcomed.

I am sorry to keep asking or asking incorrectly but I really dont see that this has been answered before. (IF so, could the board admin at least shoot me an email where a situation like this has been handled so I can find the info among the bazillion posts? TIA)
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Old 03-23-2010, 12:00 AM
 
13 posts, read 23,672 times
Reputation: 10
Please don't quote me on my response as I am not an expert in the field by any means, but if I understand the situation correctly, you are definitely eligible for UI benefits. My brother was in a similar situation... had a F/T day job and also worked evenings delivering papers in order to live comfortably. When laid off from his day job, he took on additional routes to make ends meet and was/is paid by 1099 as a self employed independent contractor. This did NOT affect his eligibility for UI benefits as he lost his main source of income which was the basis for his eligibility. If I understand the rules, additional self employment income does not automatically disqualify you from UI if you would be eligible without that SE job. (Does that make sense?)

I don't know about NJ, but NY asks you how many days you worked INCLUDING self employment and if you earned less than $405 for the week EXCLUDING self employment, so if you were to answer those questions honestly, you might be eligible for partial unemployment based upon the days you worked for yourself (eg...if you worked 2 or 3 days (based on 21 hours per week) you could collect for 1 or 2 days of unemployment compensation). HOWEVER, keep in mind that if those 21 hours are spread out over a 5 day work week, you will not be able to collect!!!

Basically...I think that you may need to state that you were laid off from your first job and that your own business is just a second job needed to help make ends meet.

Again...please don't quote me on any of this...but I think that the answer of "yes" is correct even if my muddled understanding and explanation of WHY might be wong!!

Either way...I don't think there's any harm in applying. The worst thing that can happen is they tell you you're not eligible, right?? (and if you're not collecting now, what have you got to lose???)

Hope this helps a little!!! Good luck!!!!!
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Old 03-23-2010, 12:12 AM
 
Location: New Jersey
3,814 posts, read 11,947,689 times
Reputation: 944
Quote:
Originally Posted by YoyoJersey View Post
I hope you are right about being able to get unemployment after loss of a part time job. I am on pins and needles waiting. I havent been able to find anything online on the DOL website about part time job loss.

I have the unfortunate displeasure of having my benefits calculated way off of what I think it should be based on my earnings but we shall see. I have to ask for an amendment and I wonder how hard that will be. I have all the stubs to back it up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by YoyoJersey View Post
I tried to ask this yesterday and it was removed. I have searched for a long time to see if my question was answered and my unusual situation has not been discussed as far as I can see. Plenty of folks have lost their part time jobs AFTER recieving UI but this is different.

Last week, I had two part time jobs. One my own business as sole proprietor and only employee with regular hours and overhead, and one for someone else with payroll and UI taken out etc (waiting tables). The second job "pays the bills" so to speak and now it is lost.

I lost my second job and I worked there the necessary number of months and dollar amts. However, technically because I have 21 regular hours at my business I am not available to work 7 days a week at the drop of a hat.

I am wondering if I can collect UI for loss of second job due to lack of work?
How will my business factor in? (I have been operating at a loss so far this year due to the economy.)
My office overhead is about 300 a week.....would I have to declare what I made there even though it may not even reach my overhead needs/dollar amts?

Any insight is welcomed.

I am sorry to keep asking or asking incorrectly but I really dont see that this has been answered before. (IF so, could the board admin at least shoot me an email where a situation like this has been handled so I can find the info among the bazillion posts? TIA)
In an earlier post on another thread (see first post reprinted above), you seemed to say that you had already filed for UI, that you believed that your benefits were miscalculated, and that you filed an appeal ("amendment"?).

Now you are asking if you can collect UI for the loss of your second job.

It is unclear what your situation actually is...
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Old 03-27-2010, 10:19 AM
 
7 posts, read 47,783 times
Reputation: 11
Quote:
Originally Posted by diorgirl View Post
In an earlier post on another thread (see first post reprinted above), you seemed to say that you had already filed for UI, that you believed that your benefits were miscalculated, and that you filed an appeal ("amendment"?).

Now you are asking if you can collect UI for the loss of your second job.

It is unclear what your situation actually is...

My apologies for being unclear.

The day after I was laid off from job number 2 I filed online in NJ.

I havent actually gotten a cent yet, but they sent me a determination of benefits form stating what my benefit would be. My former employer or their records are incorrect and the wages differ by several thousands of dollars, thus lowering my benefit when calculated.

I filed an appeal by mailing off the pay stubs and w-2s necessary to calculate the real earnings and real benefit amount as soon as I got the determination of benefits. (They say it has to be done within 7 days of getting the DoB form, which I did.) I still havent heard anything back from them yet.

I called several times yesterday and got disconnected twice and waited 20 min each time just to get thru. The woman for some reason said she couldnt put in the appt time to meet with an adjuster (something I was told will need to be done.) Great computer system we got here. She said when I call to report my income for the two weeks, it will ask if I had self employment income and when I hit yes it will get me to a live person, and at that point I will have my interview with an adjuster (supposedly, but she didnt give great confidence.)

Thing of it is, my overhead when averaged out per week is 325 dollars. As far as I am concerned, anything under 325 should not count against me as it relates to Unemployment. But, if they are going to count the 325 I need to stay open, I wont get a cent of help from my unemployment insurance because that 325 will eat up the entire benefit amount.

I was hoping to find someone who had similar experience and perhaps could shed some light. I go tuesday for their training meeting and wed I make the call to report the last two weeks of income. I could cover my minimum payments with the credit cards and help with some expenses if I got unemployment (which I earned and should be entitled to while I am searching for a new job.) I have already put in with sallie mae to defer my loans and the UI will help me pay the interest to keep it from compounding. Its a pain in the butt not knowing, and scary too.

I welcome any more info that anyone is willing to offer.

Thanks to all who took the time.
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Old 03-27-2010, 10:23 AM
 
7 posts, read 47,783 times
Reputation: 11
To Diorgirl: One more thing and sorry again for the confusion. When you file online it asks if you are a partial owner of a corporation. I am a sole proprietor so I answered honestly that I am not partial owner of a corp. Nowhere does it ask about self employment.

Even tho I got eligibility of benefits, I simply wont know if I can collect anything because of the self employment.
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Old 03-27-2010, 03:37 PM
 
Location: New Jersey
3,814 posts, read 11,947,689 times
Reputation: 944
Quote:
Originally Posted by YoyoJersey View Post
To Diorgirl: One more thing and sorry again for the confusion. When you file online it asks if you are a partial owner of a corporation. I am a sole proprietor so I answered honestly that I am not partial owner of a corp. Nowhere does it ask about self employment.

Even tho I got eligibility of benefits, I simply wont know if I can collect anything because of the self employment.
Two things:
(1) You did answer the question about being a partial owner of a corporation correctly. If you are legally an owner of a corporate entity, your earnings from that source are reviewed differently. As a sole proprietor, you are not required to report that at the stage when you initially file for benefits.

(2) When you disagree with a determination of benefits, you do have to appeal and provide evidence supporting your position -- as you have done. But that appeal goes to a special unit within UI, and they must set a date for your appointment hearing. Because of the backlog of appeals, this can take a while.

The UI agents you can reach by telephone can only tell you about the appeal after a decision is reached and it is entered into the system. They do not have access to any other information about that (e.g., the status of the appeal) -- and they are not supposed to comment/speculate about the likely outcome of an appeal.

Reporting your self-employment income when you file every two weeks may bump you up in the queue to set an appointment -- but there's no way to know that until you do.

Unfortunately, you'll just have to go through the process.
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Old 04-05-2010, 09:04 AM
 
7 posts, read 47,783 times
Reputation: 11
This morning I was finally able to get someone on the phone that was knowledgable. I managed to get appts for the self employment aspect of UI, and a separate one for the monetary determination.

What I want to know at this point is this: In light of the fact that my overhead is X dollars a week at my personal business (rent, insurances, licensing, yellow pages, phone etc) will the weekly reciepts be considered "income" if it is less than my weekly overhead?

ie overhead works out to be about 325 a week. Week 1 of unemployment my reciepts were 290, week 2 were 310 and week 3 was 370. As far as I am concerned I didnt have "income" until the third week.
Considering my benefit from UI will only be around 300, this seems grossly imbalanced against me if those reciepts go directly against my benefits rather than applied towards overhead first.

How does the state work this?
Is there some special way to word it so that they realize that my expenses are the same from week to week regardless of what my actual reciepts were? (This is why I had a second job, to pay the regular bills.)

Thanks for those who have taken the time so far, and any that take the time to reply. I have two weeks before my meeting with them and I want to get my info straight.
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Old 04-17-2010, 09:50 AM
 
7 posts, read 47,783 times
Reputation: 11
I just wanted to drop by and answer my own question, in case anyone else has similar situation, so they might be helped by this.

I had my phone meeting with the gal at unemployment on Thursday and she was trying to figure out if my business was a "temporary business" or a "casual business" so that she could interpret the laws behind it. I told her I didnt feel as though I qualified as either, after she defined them.

She wound up calling me back on Friday to ask more questions including finding out which tax forms I file (1040 and sched C as sole proprietor), if anyone else has financial interest, if I have 100% responsibility for all biz decisions and financial obligations. She asked if I drew a paycheck and I do not. Whatever is left over at the end of the year is mine.

The conclusion we came to was that I am not "casual" or "temporary biz" but rather an established biz, having been around for many years. To the best of my understanding, she was saying that I cannot draw UI on my biz (I knew this) but that I could draw from the other job based on the type of biz and other situations described above. I was also told that I do not have to declare the earnings from this business, which surprised me. I will take it though.

And....I will believe it when I see it in my checking account.

For now, I just wanted to provide an update and thanks again to any who have taken the time to reply.

HTH

Oh, and one more thing.....I am incredibly grateful for such a dilligent inquiry by this woman. I think I want to write an email or send a letter to the DoL praising her as she could have simply denied it and sent me into the longer process of appeals etc. (Assuming that my conclusion that I am good to go is in fact correct.)

Think I should?
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