by Eric
(Daytona Bch)
I am full time at the moment, but the hand writing is on the wall. The company that I work for has asked the other non-management full timers to go part time or take 4 weeks severance pay. If I took the severance pay could I collect unemployment in Florida?
Hi Eric,
How do I explain nicely what I think the employer is trying to do .. I can’t.
Taking the severance allows them a way to protest your unemployment claim. The severance would have an effect on benefits for what it represents .. 4 weeks.
But the protest would be a voluntary quit because continuing work was offered and available .. they wouldn’t clarify that it was part-time work.
Normally, this wouldn’t concern me because I’d just tell you that it might be possible to collect unemployment if you are changed to a part-time employee depending on the depth of reduction, but I have to take into considerations the things I read and hear now about what Florida is doing .. and that is denying claims initially because unemployed people generally don’t appeal that many bad determinations .. It’s an odds game and as slow as the appeal dept. is .. it acts to staunch the bleeding of benefits from their fund.
If they reduce you to part time, a claim for partial benefits is possible, but I don’t know how much or even if you would earn little enough to get partial benefits ..
But the advantage to a partial claim vs. a severance is the total liability of the claim or 26 times your weekly benefit amount for total unemployment. There’s also the advantage of locking in a full-time employment base period vs. a part-time employment base period .. just in case the employer reduces hours more, lays off or worse still develops a way to fire you with cause and you end up denied entirely.
After reading this all over I just decided there might be an advantage also to being oblivious to how this crappy system works .. I wouldn’t worry so much and have this compulsive need to go on and on and on ….