Am I eligible to get my benefits in NJ if I am laid off from the second job I’ve had after being denied benefits?

by Dave

(NJ)

Hi Chris, we have corresponded several times in the past about my situation in NJ. I will give you a quick re-cap of where I was, and where I am at now. I was fired from my job for losing my license. The State detemined that I Voluntarily Quit. There was no resistance from the company, just the states interpretation, which was clearly wrong. I appealed and waited 3 months for a hearing which I provided all the evidence necessary that I was terminated and took all the steps to stay employed since the company has thousands of non-driving assignments, and lost. The appeal to the board of review has been even longer, which makes no sense to me. The way I look at it, out of the people that originally appealed, some won their appeal, others probably give up, that means much fewer appeals, meaning it should be a shorter amount of time, not longer. I think it is the states way of forcing you to give up and get any old job because they know you can’t survive while you wait for them. Well, thats exactly what I did. I took a part-time job to help with the bills working just under 40 hrs and making much less than my Weekly benefit rate of 584. NJ says that if you voluntarily quit, you need to earn 6 times your weekly benefit rate or $3504. I earned about $1700 at the part time job and left for a full time job making about $500 a week. I have been there a few weeks and my employer says he may have to lay me off due to lack of work. If i haven’t earned the full $3500 at the full time job, but have enough with the part-time and full time job combined, will I still be qualified? And will I still be entitled to the full benefit? And at this point, if I am layed off do I file a new claim? This is what I don’t understand since I still have a claim in that I am waiting for the board of review. Im sorry for rambling on and probably confusing you. If you can make sense of this please let me know, or if you need more info let me know too. Thanks alot.

Dave

Hi Dave, I do remember you .. I have a knack for remembering .. just not sure if that’s good or bad some days.

You have personal knowledge of why it behooves the State of NJ to find voluntary quit vs. a discharge .. and it’s all because of NJ’s disqualifications .. for quitting vs. misconduct.

Quitting requires that you return to work and earn 6 times your WBA .. Being fired in NJ requires you to serve a 6 week waiting period. By the way, this is a rarity amongst the states.

Disqualification are generally indiscriminate as to the reason for separation.

I tried to research the question your question raised for me, but NJ’s new looking website timed out .. so I’ll just tell you what I was trying to find out.

If you happen to be laid off from your new job and that claim you are appealing is still in effect .. then yes, if you returned to work and earned 6 times your weekly benefit amount, regardless of where you earned it .. the heavens will open and weekly checks will start raining down on you, because you will have “purged the disqualification” for the first job loss and they will allow access to the wage credits in your base period from the first job.

I assume you have been certifying as instructed .. since you have appeals in the works.

But the question that pops up now is that since they will have to review your separations from all subsequent work, the part-time job and whether it will carry it’s own disqualification to purge is the question ..

My thought is .. no .. not in this benefit year, but the monetary part of the system is where quite a few variances from state to state do occur and this includes how disqualification are purged .. or even if one can purge a DQ.

In case they find that the quit was without good cause. Some states actually have statutes that give good cause for accepting better work .. but not all. You’ll have to check NJ statutes and let me know if you find such a statute because this would guide your response to any questions from the state.

Regardless, if you do lose your current job due to a lack of work .. that is, by it’s nature a qualifying separation .. but I know that they will have to look at all subsequent work to determine if you have satisfied the first VQ disqualification. But they also look at the reason for separation .. this is another “nonmonetary determination” to be concerned about.

So I’m going to suggest you either scour the statutes or call the state to find out if that second job is going to throw a monkey wrench into the whole deal.

It seems to me, this is the kind of question someone could get an answer to without divulging who they are. I’d do it for you, but I don’t have the time.

I think I need volunteers willing to ask and then tell everyone what the state told them.

I’d appreciate it if you let me know the results of your inquiries .. otherwise the question I think you’ve asked will be added to the bottom of a very long and growing list I have personally .. sitting right here next to me.