Can I collect Florida partial unemployment benefits?

I recently got my salary dropped and was put on hourly wages @ 35 – 40% less in pay..they are keeping me on full time employment..am I eligable for partial unemployment in the state of FL?
Stella

Stella,

Your employer has put you in a very undesirable position. Florida employers have the option of voluntarily participating in the short time UI compensation plan..yours must not.

A week of partial unemployment is when a full-time employee is working less than full-time.

Your employer has elected to reduce your pay instead.

This would probably be good cause for quitting because the terms of employment have been changed drastically, but you still need to compare what you’re making now and what you would get per week in benefits for total unemployment.

A quick way to estimate your weekly benefit amount is to multiply your usual weekly gross wage by 13 and then divide by 26.

If you are presently making more than that..you might consider hanging onto the job because the alternative is that weekly unemployment check…which will probably be just a bit more than than the figure you come up with because of the new stimulus package, but it will eventually end too.

If I am working part time and going on maternity leave in Oct, could I claim unemploymeny for the 6 weeks that I will be out? I have worked for my company for 5 years.

Hi Elizabeth,

Maternity leave isn’t good cause for collecting unemployment. There would have to be a provision in the statutes that would allow for collecting due to this personal reason.

There is nothing that actually stops a person from applying for benefits, and there are provisions that provide for benefits if health is the reason a person quits, but in your situation you will be on FMLA, not unemployed and additionally you would be unavailable for work.

Availability and ability to work are basic requirements to actually collect unemployment.

Chris

We only have two employees. One of them has been with us for the past 13 years, but he is a slacker. Jobs are hard to come by, so we have been giving him 2 to 4 days of work per week. His hourly wage is $12.50, but we just pay him $100 a day.

My questions are the following: 1) The $275 minimum, is that gross or net? 2) If we have one really bad week and can only pay him 2 days, is that enough for him to file a claim?

I know that is exactly what he wants to do. He does handyman work on the side which he gets paid cash and he would love to do that full time and get a check from unemployment. But that would not be fair to us, as our rates would go up.

I’d appreciate any help you can give us.

Thank you,
Mary

Hi Mary,

Let’s start with the fact that working fulltime at 12.50 and hour 5 days a week, this person would probably be entitled to $250 a week if “totally unemployed”. That’s the starting point.

Yes, if you reduce his hours to 16 a week he could collect a partial amount of his WBA.

Florida is suppose to first disregard earnings equaling 8 X the Federal minimum wage before the benefit amount is decreased dollar for dollar for the remaining earnings. 200 – 58 = 142 .. 250 – 142 = 108.

But a state is not only concerned with money received from “covered employment”, but also requires that people report money from “self employment” too. Additionally, the fact that he would not be “able and available” those 3 days due to his self employment would in effect cancel out his ability to collect those benefits.

As an employer you are concerned about your experience rating going up .. for benefits at 250 a week in FL the possible liability to you is approx. $6500 if all benefits are collected.

Back to your original question .. anyone who has had there hours reduced can file a claim for partial benefits. But in this case if he works three days a week he could expect approx. $8 dollars a week from unemployment benefits.

At this rate your total liability over the course of the benefit year would be $416 vs. $5616 working two days a week.

Three days: 5200 in wages and associated cost + 416 in UI liability = 5616 + x amount of associated cost or ….

Two days: 0 wages and no associated cost + 5616 in UI liability.

Employers consider this kind of stuff when reducing hours for employees for a very good reason. Because unemployment tax isn’t the only cost associated with employing someone ..

Hi, I have a small business of currently 2 employees (one being myself). I had an employee work for me for just under 6 months from January thru just before mid-June. She was hired as part-time and her hours fluctuated based on need throughout those months. In May, she started pressuring me that she needed full-time or she’d give me a 2 week notice and leave to another job. I told her I was giving her what I could afford being that it’s a new business. When she got her next check in Mid-may, once again she said she needed full-time or she’d give me a 2 week notice. Once again, it was bothering me that an employee keeps threatening to leave unless they get their way. So when she said that again in Mid-may, I started looking for another employee to hire part-time and start training in case the original employee left. Sure enough, after 10 days of the new employee coming to work, I started giving more hours to the new employee and less to the old employee who twice said she’d give me a 2 week notice unless I gave her full-time, and since I was not going to give full-time, I was expecting her to leave. She eventually quit in Mid-June and is now filing for unemployment. My question is, does she meet the requirements for it since (1)she quit on the basis that she wasn’t being promoted to full-time, (2) she only worked for me 5 1/2 months, and (3) I only employ 2 to 3 employees total including myself?

Well, it depends. At the time she quit .. if I have the story right .. I’m guessing she probably quit because you hired a replacement and started giving her hours to them .. not because you didn’t provide her with full-time hours .. after all .. you didn’t have to .. you hired her for part-time .. right? And until you stopped giving her hours .. she just threatened to quit.

Who made the substantive change to the employment with regard to the hours and employment status? You did.

But the fact is .. she quit, so the burden is hers to prove.

I’d tell her to do it with her paystubs and of course relating the facts of the situation .. but it’s Florida .. and you will probably luck out because you are an employer and it was she that quit.

If you had never given her full-time and never reduced her hours, but still, she eventually quit .. then there would be no question .. she’d be done for.

how do i file for partial unemployment?

You file a claim for unemployment benefits.

What happens if you’re a part-time employee whose hours fluctuate per week and after almost a 50% reduction in hours for 2 weeks straight you decide to quit not knowing nor asking whether the reduction was permanent or for a few weeks, how do they figure out if you’re eligible for unemployment and what fraction you’re eligible for? is it based on the highest earning quarter of the previous 5 quarters of work?

It will depend on the details related to the unemployment department and whether they think it is with good cause or not.

This also depends on whether this employment is subsequent to a claim already filed.

I’d offer you a coaching session so you could avoid making mistakes in the future .. but that would present a personal conflict for me:)

Standard base period for any one benefit year in Florida is the first four of the last five completed quarters relative to the quarter the claim is filed in.

The high quarter wages establish the weekly benefits amount and FL also has some formula to determine the duration of benefits.

I’m now going to tell you the same thing I have to tell claimants quite often .. it all depends on the individual merits or lack of merits of every single claim.

If a claimant told me this:

“What happens if you’re a part-time employee whose hours fluctuate per week and after almost a 50% reduction in hours for 2 weeks straight you decide to quit not knowing nor asking whether the reduction was permanent or for a few weeks”

I’d ask them .. do you know why the employer reduced your hours? Tell me what was happening recently at work that might have caused the change.

And I might also tell you .. just like I’ve told claimants .. you can’t have your cake and eat it too and I’m not interested in helping you to develop an argument based on anything, but the truth. Instead, learn and don’t repeat if it was a mistake.

i work for a company,when we start back to work,we only work about 6-12 hours a week,but we are not allowed to draw unemployment as long as we are wworking and if we don,t go back to work,its just like refusing to work and you can,t recieve benefits.don,t you just love this country,work all your life,for what…when you need unemployment,were is all that money from all the years you worked,,they took that money out of your checks all these years,but you can only go back and claim a certain time.GOD saided a liar and a theift will never enter into his kingdom.from what i have seen,,not one soul that is in government will enter GOD,s kingdom..thats your job,you say, you are doing…GOD saided ,if you serve the devil,you will spend eternalty with him

Hi Anonymous,

I just love it when people make statements that are based on faulty assumptions about how things actually work and then invoke damnation in the name of God because you have chosen to be a victim.

If you work less than full-time and earn less than your weekly benefit amount you should be entitled to unemployment benefits .. regardless of what your employer told you. They cannot stop you from filing a claim .. they can only threaten you not to and that is illegal.

Additionally, those who work in Florida have not had one penny deducted from their paychecks labeled for unemployment.

EMPLOYERS PAY UNEMPLOYMENT TAXES.

The funny(as in ironic) part is that so many people think they have paid taxes .. that politicians haven’t figured out that that might be part of a possible solution to many of the roadblocks to not only job creation, but the educational requirements for creating a workforce for the new jobs that will be created.

If we did pay an unemployment tax similar to the way employers pay UI taxes, and the program gave unemployed workers some freedom to choose the path they want without fear of losing benefits .. more people would be going to school, starting new businesses, taking inadequate jobs in the interim .. etc., etc., etc.,.

I know I am the first to complain about unscrupulous employers, but I also know that there are decent and fair employers, but why mention those that don’t add to a problem when the real problem is politicians who are assisting the unscrupulous to run the show.

Generalizations require an assumption that an audience has underlying intelligence and good sense to recognize a generalization .. this is not always the case .. now is it?

I was working as the first cook in a country club, the old chef got laid off and I was promoted to active chef. I did the job for about 3-4 months. I did not get the job. Which is fine to a point, though I said to my employers that the new chef will not want me since of the history that I was also in the running for the job as well. Well he started in August and now Oct. this friday after closing the kitchen he pulled me to closed office meeting and was told that I was still not doing my job(he wrote me up in sept. first time in my life) he told me that I had two choices resign effetive immedietly or I go from my ft position @15/hr to a pt seasonal position for 10/hr with maybe 20/hrs/wk. What do I do, do I qualify????

Yes, you can file a claim for unemployment, but the amount of your weekly benefit that you would be able to receive is dependent upon how much you earn from week to week and you must report this when filing claims.

The problem in Florida is that the max WBA is so disgustingly, low .. that it isn’t in line with what many people actually earn in a job.

As for the reduction in hours .. if it is being done as some sort of “punitive measure”, you need to be counter documenting your write-ups with a real account of what is happening and you should probably be taking your concerns to a higher authority to seek resolution .. in case you end up with no choice .. or your new boss finally takes the final step and dismisses you.

The documentation you create now is what can save you from a tough battle at an unemployment hearing .. or even when you apply .. because you would be able to offer it to the claims adjudicator for consideration when they make the determination.

Chris

this was my first time to work in the US and i worked for about 3 months and i got laid off. I live in florida and one of the requirements to get unemployment is to make at least $3400 and i made $4200 but i worked less than two quarters do i still get benefits?

No, I don’t think you would be able to collect benefits because you did not monetarily qualify.

Florida’s qualifying formula is to have a minimum of 2,267 in your high quarter wages and at least 1/2 of your hqw in another quarter in your base period.

One half of 2,267 is 1,133. Add those together and you come up with the 3400, but if you made 4200 only in one quarter .. you wouldn’t qualify because you would also need at least 2100 in a different quarter of your base period.

Sorry, I don’t make the rules.

Hi, Thanks so much for your time. I live in Florida and was a fulltime Kindergarten Aide. In October my position was cut due to low numbers of students. I applied and began receiving unemployment. A few days after leaving the school district I was hired as a substitute employee on an “as needed” bases. Some weeks I can work an entire week, other weeks I won’t work at all. Every time I claim weeks I claim the income made from substitute teaching. The county is now appealing my unemployment because I am subbing for the county. I lost all benefits and went from full time, to as needed and my pay went down about $3 an hour. I am going to have to pay back my unemployment?

Hi,

I think I’m just a little dense.

What was the reason given by the unemployment department that cause the “loss of all benefits” or are you talking about losing health benefits?

Also, tell me what the employer has stated as the reason for their appeal.

Actually, I suggest you provide fuller details on the page for questions about unemployment appeals with a regular submission of a question vs. a comment, which should be specific to the person that creates a question.

Sorry, one of my new year resolutions, as always is to make this site better organized.

Chris

If I was working a total of 25 hours a week and my employer dropped me down to 4 hours a week so my checks went from being 240ish to 59.60 can i claim partial unemployment.

Since regular partial unemployment benefits are calculated on how much you earn per week an not how many less hours per week you work .. the only way to really find out is to file a claim..

I know that is what I would do, if in your place.

Hi,

My mom’s employer just told her that she would have her days reduced from 5 x 7.5 hours to 3 x 7.5 hours (40%) AND her hourly rate reduced from $15.50 by 20%. They offered to delay the hourly drop by a few weeks but said the 2 less days per week would be effective immediately.

Does this give her grounds to quit and claim unemployment while she looks for other work? Is she eligible for partial unemployment if she stays? Would she fare better if the employer entered into the voluntary program? Is that voluntary program a win/win for the employer?

I think her employer is not realizing people can claim unemployment. The employer certainly isn’t advising anyone of it. This cut is similar, but less offensive, to most other employees (25% hour cut instead of 40 and similar hourly cut percentage).

Thanks!

-Eric

Hi Eric

I really don’t encourage people to quit a job in this economy if they don’t have to .. especially if you will earn less with total unemployment than partials.

So doing the math seems the practical approach .. I’ll get to the short-time compensation at the end.

Your Mom makes approx. 581 a week. If she has earned this consistently for the last 18 months or so (base period stuff) her high quarter wages should be approx. 7,553 .. more than enough to qualify for max benefits in Florida which is 275 a week when the HQ shows a minimum of 7,150. (a quarter is 13 weeks).

Now we need to estimate what she will be earning and how partials would play out.

22.5 hours a week at 12.40 per hour = 279 which is over the WBA, but when filing for partials and reporting weekly earnings on the continuing claims, Florida will first disregard 8 times the federal minimum wage from her earnings.

7.25 x 8 = 58

279 – 58 = 221

275 – 221 = 54 which is what I believe she should be getting as a weekly partial benefit amount .. approximately.

So in effect 275 + 54 = 329 per week total.

Short-time on the other hand is a voluntary program entered into by an employer .. no one can force them. The benefit amount is based upon the reduction of hours and benefits are paid for approx 50 percent of the reduction in hours.

If I’m not mistaken that would be an extra 93 to her three days of wages. They call it short-time because it can’t be permanent .. it’s something an employer can opt for to avoid a layoff, but I don’t think it is widely used.

And it would still raise the employers taxes .. most likely more than what the employer is doing .. unless everyone upped and quit.

Just a thought Eric, but if it were me .. right now at least .. I’d probably accept the reduction .. in hours and use the two days off per week to find other employment ..

Now a question .. is your Mom more highly paid than other employees and could it be possible that a 40 percent reduction would put the employer in violation of minimum wage laws if he lowered their wages as much?

What ever you tell her .. do not tell her I advised quitting. This is a personal decision I do not want to be held responsible for if things go bad and there is a need to wait for months for the appeal hearing.

Additionally, the current federal unemployment extension will expire at the end of the year and to be honest .. I was surprised they passed the last one. So do not count on another one .. unemployment benefits generally speaking “pre-recession” at least, never last longer than 26 weeks.

And it is always possible that this employer might have to move to a layoff .. then she would have the claim established already. It would be an easy transition to total unemployment benefits.. and there would still be quite a lot of balance left since she hadn’t been using the full 275 a week.

Not that it would make surviving any easier .. but at least the claim would be AOK.

hello,
first i didnt even know there was such a thing as partial unemployment. my salary agreement is set at 80 hours every 2 weeks. $7.50 and hour, 2.6% commission. my store makes about $9000.00 a week. they are asking that all managers (me) drop their hours by 10 a week and to go collect partial unemployment. can i do that for only 20 hours bi weekly?

This is just a guess, but I would say it’s only going to be possible if your employer is participating in a voluntary short-time compensation plan.

What a pretty new website they have now .. too bad Florida still doesn’t know how to answer the phone when the unemployed call them to find out where there benefits are.

We worked in Florida for a company out of Michigan and they closed this location in Florida in December. Can my husband draw unemployment if he is self employed with no money to pay him? Please help ASAP

I’d like to help, but your question makes little to no sense to me.

Would you like to take another stab at explaining the situation sufficiently and clearly?

My question is the following one..

I have been working for this company for the past 4 years under full time status this past week new schedule was posted and surprised a few people hours we reduce my was reduce from 40 + to 16 equals to 2 days of work.

Am I entitle to any benefits?? partial unemployment? or unemployment??

And also what will be the next step to follow??

Thanks in advance!!

The Data tech

Hi,

You are certainly entitled to file a claim to receive partial benefits.

Whether you do receive a partial amount of what your weekly benefit would be if totally unemployed is something that can only be known after you report the wages earned in each week you file a claim for continuing benefits and the partial benefit formula is applied.

Each state has their own formula for partials and although I would be happy to calculate an estimate for you .. I’d have to know how much you earn for 16 hours of work to know if you could expect a partial benefit.

I work for a very large company and they have cut me from an already reduced 30 hr week to about 19 hrs. We work on an hourly plus commission basis. Never know what my paycheck is from paycheck to pay check.
We did have to sign something recently saying that they are able to reduce the hrs based on the centers needs, but this feels so abusive. I can be called a half hr before work that my client cancelled so dont come in until an hr later.
How do I find out if my company participates in partial unemployment?
I have worked for this company for 12 yrs and have always done very well. The company is in big trouble and is cutting payroll so I can hardly pay my bills.
Thank you

Companies do not participate in partial unemployment .. they voluntarily participate in short-time compensation or work sharing programs if a state has such a program. These voluntary programs are short term for a designated period of time and calculate any partial benefits on the reduced hours instead of the reduced pay.

As for regular partial unemployment benefits .. all states allow you to file a claim when your employer has reduced you from full time to part time.

File the claim now .. whether you can receive a partial benefit amount or not .. it helps to establish a claim .. when you still have sufficient wages to qualify and get a weekly benefit amount based on higher quarter earnings.

Otherwise .. you wait until even more severely reduced hours become your high earning quarter.

You have told me to apply for short term unemployment What do I submit to do it? Which form?
Thank you

I don’t know which form Judi .. because I can’t get in there to see your choices ..

I’d call the new Florida Reemployment Program. I know people tell me they don’t answer .. but one tip offered by a reader .. said never choose the english language option and you’ll have a better chance of getting through to a live person.

I am an over-the-phone interpreter and work 30 hours a week. My wages are calculated based on the amount of hours worked plus a per minute rate. Recently the company I work for has been working on switching to a new system that has caused my call volume to go down drastically and my paycheck now is almost half of what I was earning before. Will I be able to receive partial unemployment for the wage loss even if my hours have not been reduced? Thanks in advance!

Has the reduction in wage been due to a reduction in hours worked? Or is less pay purely due to a different structuring of pay for the pay per minute rate? Which might actually be a substantial change being made by the employer to the original terms and conditions of hire.

Partial benefits at thirty hours a week even at minimum wage, likely isn’t a possibility in Florida, or any state for a partial benefit because your regular hourly pay would first wipe out the weekly maximum benefit the way the partial formula is calculated leaving nothing partial to pay considering the puny FL max weekly benefit amount.

This of course is opposed to short-time compensation benefits which is a voluntary program for employers who instead of reducing their workforce, opt into a program to reduce hours instead (short-time is also called a work/share program). In that case partial benefits are calculated on the number of hours reduced instead of earnings.

Hello Chris,
My wages have been reduced because the amount of minutes I am on the phone have drastically gone down even though I continue working 30 hours a week. I get paid for the 30 hours at my regular rate but I am not working too many minutes, and those minutes are the ones that make a difference in my paycheck since they are paid at an additional rate. I see I will not be eligible for partial unemployment. If this is a change being made by the employer to the original terms and conditions of hire, does it mean I can get unemployment while I look for another job if I quit? Thanks again!

I guess my point is that you should consider the possibility the employer has altered the terms from hire substantially with this new system, but I simply don’t know enough to tell you whether what they have done would be good cause to quit due to any substantial changes you don’t have control over making a decision to quit with good cause for.

My primary concern would be that you are still working thirty hours a week, same as always, but the reduction in pay is a result of the fact you are not being paid for an “overage” of minutes with a separate and better rate of pay due to a change to some sort of employer system that is now limiting extra minutes that may not of been guaranteed to you at time of hire.

And although it sounds a lot like you might simply be missing something similar to overtime pay for those extra minutes, quitting due to no longer getting overtime hours .. you have to consider that OT is legally only a requirement to be paid when an employee exceed forty hour of work in one week of work.

If a reduction in pay is due to a loss of OT hours, it is not going to be good cause to quit because wage and hour laws do not force any employer to provide you with OT.. just the OT pay for any work you might work in excess of forty hours.

I hope you see the quandary I see, as that would need to be resolved to give you a more definite answer about quitting in Florida .. with regard to unemployment benefits. In fact, your issue may be more related to an employee right law .. such as those administered by the WHD (wage and hour division) at the USDOL.

I’ve worked for the same employer at 40 hours per week for 3 years and he is now wanting to cut my hours back to 20 hours per week, yet keep a new employee in another dept (that does not do my job) at 40 hours per week, (she makes less per hour). Can I file for partial unemployment? I know he won’t participate in voluntarily.

When someone becomes totally, or partially unemployed, there is nothing to prevent them from filing.

However, partial unemployment benefits are subject to a formula when a state doesn’t have a voluntary short-time compensation option. (Generally, short-time is based on the reduction of hours each week vs. the earnings each week.)

So, although you can file the claim for partial unemployment benefits, you can first check to see if it would be a waste of time, by viewing Florida’s partial formula and calculating if you would receive a partial benefit based on 20 hours of earnings.

The formulas for partial unemployment benefits for each state are found in the monetary chartbook.

I work full time for $20/hr and due to cutbacks I will now now working 8-15 hours/week. Can I claim unemployment?

Yes, you can file a claim once you’re partially unemployed and in any week thereafter you remain that way, however, whether you collect a partial amount of the weekly benefit amount you would receive if totally unemployed is even at $20 ph subject to Florida’s partial benefit formula .. which is going to depend on how many hours you do work each week you claim and report earning for each week.

Eight hour a week .. it’s likely, 15 however, would likely take you close, if not beyond the disregarded amount, (8 x the federal minimum wage, which is still 7.25 I believe) before FL uses the rest of your weekly earnings to reduce the total benefit amount if totally unemployed, dollar for dollar to find the partial amount of benefits owed to you based on your partial wages.

At 15 hour .. it’s not looking as good for a partial benefit.

You can find the Florida partial unemployment benefit formula, along with any other state’s, at table 3-8 in the Monetary entitlement chartbook found here.

All I can say is wow. I read these comments and questions on here and it amazes me that any of you have any employees at all. You don’t like what one of your employees does so instead of acting confronting them about it and addressing the issue instead you play petty games messing with their hours and their time and then you complain about them having a side job that is under the table. sounds like you’re jealous. trying to configure whether or not firing someone or cutting their hours and which is better and a more viable option by a number it’s pretty sad. If everyone just treated everyone with respect and discussed their issues more openly there wouldn’t be any of these problems. If someone’s not performing to your expectations and you just tell them instead of this contrived punishment.

Hello,
My hours at work were reduced from 40 to 20 effective Sept 6th. I have worked for the company for nine years and due to a low client base, they are reducing my hours; they are also taking away all benefits starting Oct 6th. I make 13.52 an hour. I have not been able to figure out the formula for FL partial benefits and was hoping that you could help me determine if I should even bother filing for partial unemployment?
The company wants to offer me another PT job for 8.50 an hour for the other 20 hours so I would be FT; however, even if I take this I retain benefits but I lose over $400 a month in come.

Please help! Thank you.

First, the partial benefit amount formula applies once you know the weekly benefit amount you’d get if “totally” unemployed.

So, assuming you earn approx. 580 per week we could look at the 2016 monetary chartbook and see you should well surpass the minimum earning requirements for the high quarter wages with approx 7,540 and half of that amount located somewhere else in your base period to qualify for the rip roarin’ maximum Florida weekly benefit amount of 275 .. if totally unemployed.

Now, we have to consider the partial formula applied to the max benefits for each and every week you claim partial benefits.

Florida considers a person partially unemployed if working less than full time (usually anything less than 32 hours in most states) and when earning no more than, or less than the weekly benefit amount calculated for total unemployment ..

So, if you earn anything less than the max 275, it means you could qualify for partials because you also have to consider the amount the department must disregard of the weekly wages you report when you claim each week, to calculate any partial benefit amount remaining.

In FL the disregarded amount of part-time wages earned while claiming a weekly benefit is 8 x the federal minimum wage, or 8 x 7.25 = 58 dollars.

So …

Twenty hours at 13.52 = 270.00 (rounded down) – 58.00 = 212.00

By my calculations I think you would receive about 63 dollar a week as a partial benefit amount .. or 275 – 58 = 212.

BUT, when reading you comment .. I kept thinking about that other pt job they are offering at 20 hours a week and at 8.50 p.h.

That would not only wipe out the 63 per week, but it might also be quite a clever strategy, should you accept what could possibly be “not suitable work for you”.

So, here’s the “what if” you need to answer and it isn’t monetary ..it’s about your non-monetary eligibility .. down the road.

What if, after three months of working the lower paying part-time job, the employer’s still has a low account base and no prospects of improving. And they come to you and say .. hey, we need to eliminate your 13.52 an hour pt job, but we want you to go full time on the 8.50 an hour job you accepted three months ago?

Acceptance of a job is just like saying you know the job is suitable for you and all that criteria that helps to determine what that is for each one of us ..

So .. mull that offer over because in the end, the cynic in me .. keeps thinking .. that’s a pretty good plan to stop benefits .. if you happen to get ticked off and quit that low wage part-time job, should the higher paying job go away entirely .. and all because when you accepted the offer, you were actually saying .. ya .. it’s suitable work .. even if partial benefits weren’t part of this picture.

As for the loss of fringe benefits .. that’s a no win situation as no employer is mandated to pay for those .. like say OT for anything over 40 hours per week for non-exempt employees.

My husband was working 60 hours a week and he has been cut to 11 hours a week during the summer. Is he eligible for unemployment?

It depends. First he has to file a claim. And then it all depends on how the Florida formula for determining the amount of partial benefits works on eleven, or however many hours of pay, your husband would still need to report when filing a claim each week he is partially unemployed.

Chris

I work part time earning 11.33 an hour. The job cutting from 18.50 hours weekly to 13.50 hours weekly. They claim this is not permanent, but it’s been like that for three weeks now

If it were me, I’d probably file a claim for partial unemployment benefits. The problem for me answering you though is, I only know about this one part-time job and therefore, I don’t know if, or how any other employment you may have, would affect your ability to collect a partial benefit, or if your state may have rules about benefits that can negatively affect the ability of part-time employees, to collect.

Basically, the reason I would file a claim though, is to lock in the base period wages from when I was working 18.5 hours per week.

Chris

I work for a local retail shop, about 9.5 hours a day, 4 days a week, $$9.25/ hour, working 2 days in one location, and 2 days in the other location. I came in to work on Monday morning, to find them shutting one of the stores down ( ZERO warning by the way ) and have now been relegated to 2 days a week at the one remaining location, cutting my weekly pay by 50%.

The store is only open monday – saturday ( always closed on sundays ). I would work monday and tuesday at one location ( the one still open ), and friday and saturday at the other location ( the one closed on monday )

Ive NEVER been later. Ive never missed a day. Ive never been sick. Ive never had a discipline issue, much less a complaint, so, how do I proceed, other than the obvious, which is to apply for partial benefits.

The reason for this is to determine whether I have cause to apply, or if I should simply suck it up, work 2 days a week, and work diligently to find a secure full time job and just let it go. Im unsure of how to proceed, so, I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask.

Thank you in advance for any info you can spare,

With regards and well wishes,
Anonymously frustrated.

Hi Frustrated,

When hours are reduced from full-time, to part-time due to something like this .. it’s something like being partially laid off … for a lack of work.

Off the top of my head, the same two reasons always come to mind for why I think anyone should apply for partial benefits, regardless if the reduction in hours and pay, results in a partial benefit amount, while you continue to work part-time.

1. Applying is what locks in your claim’s base period .. which sounds like it likely holds weeks of full-time employment.

2 .. well I’ll include it below.

That partial amount of benefits each week is calculated on whatever your base period wages dictate should be your weekly benefit amount, if totally unemployed.

My #2 reason for applying is .. if an employer decides to shut the other store down .. down the road ..when the base period is affected by a reduction in pay .. it can potentially lower the total benefit amount .. from which the partial benefit calculations begin.

Also, the question isn’t whether you’re eligible for a partial amount now, but in each work you work a reduced schedule. And what if even further down the road, the employer has to shut down the other store .. or possibly reduce your hours even more.

Applying for unemployment in this scenario .. is similar to hedging a bet things won’t get better for you .. or the employer

You can try to figure out the amount of partial benefit, you would be entitled to receive, based on what you are currently making full-time . vs. what you make after hours are reduced, which of course can vary the partial amount each week. The way I have figured it out for other before, is to apply the Florida partial benefit formula, which can be found easily in the monetary chartbook provided by the USDOL.

Don’t forget to include the disregard amount Florida takes off the top of weekly earnings .. before they start reducing the benefit amount, dollar for each dollar earned.

If you still can’t figure it out .. contact me via email and I’ll take my socks off, if necessary to help you guesstimate the amount .. if any, of partial benefits you can expect, knowing only what you know at this point.

Chris

Am I able to collect unemployment if I only work 15 hours each week and my position was terminated with the company?

Hi Mark
To answer your question I’d need to know more, such as how much in wages do you think would show up in your base period and in how many quarter?.

And if you currently hold any other part-time, or full-time job that would affect your benefit amount?

And if this was your only job and because it’s Florida that doesn’t have an actual part-time work provision, but some precedent that interprets there to be something similar, if you have to intentionally limit yourself to only looking for part-time work?

Because doing that .. limiting yourself to part-time work in general, isn’t something I foresee as sitting well with the Florida who now calls unemployment benefits .. Reemployment Assistance Benefits.

Chris

Due to current Covid19 situation sales are understandably off so my employer decided that they would cut off draw. The draw represents a reduction in pay of 23% and given current economic climate commissions may be long time coming. If I resign will I be eligible for FL unemployment and access to the CARES Act funding?

All I can tell you is I once read a Florida court decision that said good cause to quit existed for a person whose wages were reduced by 17 percent.

Sorry, but I no longer have a working link to that decision, so you might want to search for it yourself .. maybe at https://www.law.cornell.edu/

Hello, I am a bartender at a restaurant here in Florida, I used to work 35-40 hours and make around 800 a week. When the Coronavirus thing started I was laid off work for 2 weeks. I applied for unemployment. After those two weeks my boss called me to work. However my hours got cut to 27 hours a week and I’m making 500-600 a week. The problem is that my boss is making me do a lot of extra work like washing all the dishes by hand because the dishwasher broke and the owner of the restaurant is refusing to fix it because of money. And I’m doing all this extra work for only 5.45 an hour!! I need help in knowing what my rights are. I’m really disappointed that I went back to work hoping it was going to be better and know I’m stuck doing all this extra work risking my own health to make less than I would be making if I was home receiving unemployment.