CA – Getting Unemployment Still Working Part Time Reduced Hours Availibility ?

by Jim

(California)

Hello,
I was laid off in july 2009 from my previous employer due to them outsourcing my department to another company (I was a personal trainer with them). I was then offered an accepted a job with the new company that had taken over the personal training department of my previous employer. But I applied for and was awarded unemployment due to outsourcing.

I reported all my weekly earnings on my continued claim form since they paid me a considerable amount less than what I was earning from my previous employer that laid me off. I have lost alot of the clients i used to work with and now for the past 5 months I have only been working 1 hour a week for this new company. I dont really want to take on any more clients and hours from them since i just want to find another full time job instead.

Five months ago my manager asked me if i wanted to pick up more clients and hours. I told him i didn’t want anymore and that i was looking for another job. Nothing was made in writing it was just in a casual conversation. He was totally fine with it at the time and had no objection to my answer.

On thursday i was informed that i need to file a new claim since the old one had expired on 2-28-10. I had to put my current part time employer down as my last employer. Can this new claim be denied since I had told my manager 5 months ago that i was not seeking any more hours from him and also there is no evidence of me saying that. If they were to ask me today i would accept those hours to avoid availability questions.

Also when i accepted employment with this company there was never any mention of how many hours are required for me to work since each employee has a varying amount of clients.

Thank you so much

this site is awesome

Hi Jim,

Thanks and yes, I can see a potential problem although I’m not really sure how it will all play out since you are still employed and will basically just be continuing partial benefits .. and I’m missing some information about wages.

New claims have new base periods. Therefore the employer now has a vested interest in you not collecting benefits.

So they may very well say that you are “refusing offered work”. Even though it is not written down anywhere that you know of .. whoever does respond .. might tell the state that you are limiting your availability for work.

I hope you haven’t limited your availability to the point that you do not have enough wages to qualify for the 2nd benefit year or that you limited yourself so much the WBA doesn’t amount to enough to buy lunch for the week.

It is also possible that your new base period may still have wages in it from your former employer .. and then the prior paragraph would most likely be irrelevant.

Comments for CA – Getting Unemployment Still Working Part Time Reduced Hours Availibility ?

Average Rating

Mar 28, 2010
Rating

Disqualification Period?

by: jim

Thanks,

If the CA EDD were to find me guilty for not being able and available for work would it be a Definite disqualification that could last 2-10 weeks or would it be a total termination of my benefits in which i could never be able to receive another Unemployment check again?

Also if it is a definite disqualification are the judges pretty easy going and usually only give the min 2 weeks or do they seem more likely to give out the maximum 10 week DQ?

Thank you so much for the help

Oh no Jim. I’m sorry if I led you to believe it would be an A&A determination? I hope I didn’t do this.

If all these things come to pass and you are disqualified it would be for “refusal of suitable work”.

I cannot find a specific length for the CA disqualification, but it’s usually the same as a voluntary quit .. which in CA is to return to work and earn at least 5 times your WBA and then you would have to suffer a “qualifying separation” from the new work as well.

The difference between an A&A DQ and other DQ’s is that an A&A DQ can usually be lifted as soon as the eligibility question is taken care of .. such as when you are able to return to work after being medically restricted from work.

They’re a tougher on people when they see that you had a choice in the matter.

Mar 27, 2010
Rating

Wages

by: Jim

Thank you for such a quick reply

Yes, Edd has already given me a new WBA amount for my new claim and it is lower than the 1st but still about $1000 a month. The majority of the base period wages are from two former employers not my current employer.

My current employers wages only amount to about 2% of the total wages i earned during my new base period. So I’m wondering if they might just disregard my claim since it’s such a small amount on their part.

If they do claim that I was refusing offered work will they need to show the exact date and time they wanted me to work, along with any evidence to back up their statement of me refusing work?

Since there was not a specific time and date they stated they would like me to work could i use that in my defense that i was unaware they wanted me to come into work more.

Thanks

Hi Jim,

I’ve known employers who protest if their liability is only $200 .. but I found that the most likely time they would drop a protest is when the claimant appealed and I asked if they really wanted to send a manager to a hearing for $200 worth of liability .. considering I might also be telling them it’s going to cost them $200 for a rep.

Evidence? Evidence could be first hand testimony from the manager that you had the conversation with .. when there is no written documentation it becomes a credibility decision as to who the ALJ thinks is telling the truth.