How does working part-time while collecting florida unemployment affect your benefits?

Good question .. and it took up so little space. Wish I could get the hang of that.

Aside from the fact you tell me your employer is asking you to make an emotional decision that puts your job before your health, in that it would require you to ignore advice from your physician, my advice is to focus on proving your decision to follow your doctors advice was done so objectively .. like a reasonable person.

The problem begins for people in situations like this because they react subjectively, or choose to keep working and literally ignore advice from a doctor. Some may actually be a part-time employee who does not qualify for FMLA leave (which offers twelve weeks of job protected family medical leave per year to full-time employees, or those working the minimum number of hours), or those who work for employers with less than 50 employees and not having to comply with the FMLA.

However, when it comes to part-time employees being allowed to collect unemployment, it’s always a good idea to consider any specific provisions, or court interpretations about whether when an employee is finally able and available to work, per their doctor’s release paperwork, if they now must make themselves available to accept any full-time work they might be offered when complying with a state’s job search requirements.

The USDOL has a table (5-14) in the Nonmonetary Eligibility Chartbook. The chart addresses specifically which states have part-time worker provisions, or if a state may simply defer to a precedent that interprets the intent of the written law.

The question is .. when can, or can’t an employee with a history of part-time work, restrict their unemployed job search while collecting benefits, to looking for only part-time work?

Directly above this table it says:

AVAILABILITY FOR PART-TIME WORK—Many states require individuals to be available for full-time work. Other states allow individuals to be available for part-time work under certain conditions. The following table indicates those states paying benefits to workers who seek only part-time employment. Please note that considerable differences may exist between states with entries in the same column. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111-5) resulted in changes to some states’ laws as they modernized their unemployment compensation programs. The following table does not align with the requirements established

by Pub. L. 111-5.

But if you did take a look at Florida, what you saw was an “I”. That means FL doesn’t have a specific PT worker provision, but there’s court precedent decisions out there, that would explain more about “conditions”.

Although I found a few Florida UI decisions online about part-time work, I couldn’t find the decision I read once upon a time that stuck with me from when I answered questions like a madwoman during the recession.

It was about an older woman denied benefits she lost a long-term part-time job through no fault of her own. She’d worked at this job for years, only in her case the fault was a substantial change to the employment made by the employer making the job no longer suitable work for her. (I think it was the new distance to work.)

But benefits were stopped by the Florida unemployment department because they had discerned she was actually restricting her job search to only part-time work .. the court reversed and allowed benefits because it was found there was a long and verifiable history for this woman of only part-time employment.

If nothing else, this should explain why the USDOL puts an “I” to describe how a state treats an issue .. which often can be granular, but difficult to find the grains to work with that one might find in decisions that make a precedent for how UI law must be applied in similar situations going forward.

If anyone happens across that FL decision .. please let me know.

Not that I’ve ever figured out how to make the resource page a library of sorts .. but one can dream.

So .. here’s what I think about the employers chances to deny benefits, if they in fact do opt to end your employment at the end of the thirty days they are allowing, but you can prove you communicated to them at that time you are not yet medically released to work .. by your doctor.

From this point .. I’d be guessing about the actual cause, so just document everything you need to objectively to prove whether it ends up being good cause to quit at that time, or preferably ends up being a discharge for something other than work misconduct.

I know I have a minor case of OCD when it comes to documenting to prove valid points to avoid fault, but then I might not, if it weren’t for that job I once had to quit due to health reason.

You could also click here for Florida unemployment laws and use ctrl+f to find words and phrases, such as I used as I did to find out why that “I” was next to Florida in the USDOL chart .. objectively speaking.

Illness or disability

Able to work

Available to accept suitable work

Job Search

Part-time work

Full-time work

Chris

Can I draw unemployment if fired because I had surgery and need six weeks of but head quarters says I can only have thirty days doctor says six weeks. Been with company almost thirty years work twenty four hours a week.

But don’t forget to prepare too!

Appeal, appeal, appeal, until they are sick of hearing from you.

I worked 3 hours for a grand total of $25 and they held my $275 payment. They claimed I will get it in 8-10 days but would not give me a straight answer on whether I am better off to keep or not keep the part time work.

I am also in Florida and this part time position has the potential for me to go full time in a couple of months.

I can barely survive off of ue, surviving off of nothing will be impossible.

Why you couldn’t get a straight answer about whether you’d be better off to keep or lose the part time job is because they can’t advise you as to what to do.

But I will.

Quit a part-time job that still allows you to collect partial unemployment benefits (by the way, $25 of earnings should be disregard before FL reduces your benefits to a partial amount, at least according to the USDOL’s state comparison of partial benefit formulas) and collecting further benefits will be contingent on whether you can prove you had good cause to quit it.

UI benefits aren’t rocket science .. they are more like running an obstacle course designed to trip some up.

Florida did the same to me I started working a prn job because that is all that is available in my line of work and one week I worked(trained) then I worked one day 12 hour shift the next week I did not work and they cut my benefits(they make it very near impossible to get your benefits info straight) I called and waited for hours to get on phone mind you i have been trying to get an operator for a week. So I get one she tells me i need to file another claim(i should have been on eb already ??? ) i attempt to do that on phone then I get another operator that says its been done already and i haven’t gotten check because i ran out of money on previous claim.

how can i run out if my balance sais its 2800 and i’m on the eb?? so she says to go ahead and claim weeks its already set up. but no one can tell me about the week that i didn’t work and i claimed and it magically disappeared into thin air.

I think they are cutting people off after they say they start working and blow them off.

Hi .. this little factoid is for anyone beginning a new benefit year.

Whether a brand new claim for unemployment benefits or a second benefit year that you will be collecting extended benefits .. a one week waiting period will apply if your state has one.

It’s required in many state laws that you go unpaid by employer or state for one week when filing for a new benefit year.

The system keeps this all convoluted because that causes confusion .. and when people are confused .. they make mistakes that provide reasons to cut off benefits.

People tend to “assume” things that they think make sense .. at least to them.

Assumption is an enemy of anything that is legal in nature .. and unemployment benefits are entirely legalistic .. including statutory provisions about one week waiting periods.

Ignorance about unemployment benefits is only bliss .. if you don’t need them.

Chris

I got a VERY part-time job at a retail shop while collecting unemployment. It was literally 3-4 hours a week at $8.10 per hour! Not exactly what I was making as a former senior level marketing professional. I took the work merely to meet others and to get out there while continuing to look for work in my field.
I was honest and forthcoming and I declared the hours on my claim form online. All $60 of it.

What did Florida Unemployment do? They stopped ALL my benefits. I got NOTHING. I am now waiting 3 weeks and all I’ve made in that time is $60. They will PUNISH you for working at all.

Take my advice: DO NOT take a part-time job unless it is equal to the amount you are making thru unemployment because they will take your benefits AWAY without any warning whatsoever. Just GONE. I am in bad shape now because of this. VERY bad shape.

Hi Anonymous,

Did they send you a determination which stated the reason for the stoppage of benefits so you could appeal?

It’s almost impossible to do anything about anything .. unemployment unless you have an “appealable determination” to appeal or request a re-determination.

I can assume, as a senior level marketing professional, you were collecting Florida’s max benefit amount.

If you earned 60 dollars in one week, 8 X the Federal Minimum wage should first, be disregarded (Chart 3-8)

7.25 X 8 = 58.00 .. your benefit check should have been reduced by two dollars.

So I can come up with two conclusions.

Florida has some kind of stall and hold tactic they are using .. or you answered one of the other questions on the continuing claim form in such a way as to raise an eligibility issue.

So, what have you done in an attempt to fix the problem? Because if the problem is in fact, the first of the two conclusions .. Florida needs a swift kick.

Someone should start a letter writing campaign because there is some weirder S**T than this going on .. even by my standard of the usual weird s**t.

Other people have had luck getting quick resolution by complaints to the office of the Chief Inspector General

Either way, I have my fingers crossed for you and wish you the best for your future and any effort you do put forth to resolve your problem with your partial unemployment benefits.