DEFINITIONS
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Appeals
Any time you are denied unemployment compensation benefits FILE AN APPEAL! Personal experience shows that the majority of claimants who are denied do not file an appeal but of those who do file an appeal the majority win a reversal and collect benefits. I show you strategies to use that help you get your benefits in my ebook, Appeal-Winning Strategies. You only have 15 days to file an appeal to the UC Service Center and the UC Referee determinations--read the determination! You have 30 days to file an appeal to a Board of Review determination and you should have a lawyer to do this. This is an appeal to Commonwealth Court.
Writing the Appeal
Do not go into great detail when filing the appeal. Just state, “I disagree with this decision and wish to file an appeal.” You will be given ample opportunity at the hearing to discuss your case and your strategies for winning.
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Backdating
To backdate, or predate, a claim means that you want to begin your claim with a week previous to the one that you are presently in or previous to the one for which you initially opened your claim. Generally, you can do this for up to four previous consecutive weeks in which you had partial earnings, at least in Pennsylvania, with no problem. The earnings can be in the form of wages, holiday pay or vacation pay. However, if you had no earnings for any of the weeks, that week(s) poses a problem and that is, "Why didn't you file your claim during that particular week?" At present, in PA, the first two weeks back are no issue as long as you claim ignorance that you could file for unemployment benefits or did not believe that you were eligible. The other weeks may be allowed if you are able to provide a valid reason for waiting. Please see appeals.
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Base Year
The base year moves every calendar quarter. For instance, if you file your claim in April, May or June, your base year consists of the entire previous year--January through December. Once the quarter changes in July, the base year changes by dropping January through March of the previous year and picking up January through March of the current year. Please note that the base year may vary state by state and under certain conditions. See workers' compensation.
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Burden of Proof
The burden of proof is on the person who initiated the separation. In this sense, it is better to get discharged rather than quit. If you quit, then you have to prove that you had a necessitous and compelling reason to do so. In practice, this is not easy to do and requires a lot of evidence. Do not depend on witnesses providing testimony because they may not want to jeopardize their own job. Back up your reasons with written evidence such as a diary of the events causing you to voluntarily quit your job. If given the choice of quitting or being fired, wait until you are fired. Then the burden of proof is upon the employer to show they had a valid reason to discharge you. Be aware, though, that some states, like Pennsylvania, allow for a discharge for any reason and the employer does not have to tell you the reason.
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Canada
The United States has a reciprocal agreement with Canada to allow earnings from Canada to be used for a claim in the United States. The phone number for Canada is Toll Free 1-877-486-1650.
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Combined Wage Claim
Some claimants have worked in more than one state. Your wages can be drawn in from all the states in which you worked. This is called a combined wage claim. This could result in your becoming financially eligible, especially if you do not qualify with only your Pennsylvania wages. It could even increase the amount of your UC Benefits.
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Commission
If you are working strictly on a commission basis, you may be classified as fully employed, no matter how many hours you work in a week. Consider a car salesperson who may put in long hours before a sale is made and gets paid strictly through commission. Just answer the questions truthfully. However, if you receive any salary or wages paid for hours worked, you may be eligible for something.
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Corporate Officer
There is a three-pronged test that applies here.
- You have a degree of control over the everyday affairs of the corporation, including the right to hire and fire employees.
- You must own some stock, no matter how slight.
- You must hold a title or position of corporate officer.
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Deductions
There may be certain deductions from your biweekly unemployment check.
If you owe or make child support payments, domestic relations will automatically take a certain amount, stated by the court, from the benefits you receive on a per-week basis. This applies even if you are working part-time. You must watch this because domestic relations may take the support payments from both your employment check and your unemployment benefits check. You must inform domestic relations of this double dipping.
Unemployment benefits are subject to federal income tax. You can elect to have a certain amount, determined by the state, of federal income tax withheld from your weekly unemployment check. This amount is the same, currently 10 percent of your weekly benefit amount in Pennsylvania, whether you are totally unemployed or working partials. If you are working partials, it sometimes happens that the federal income tax withholding will require the total amount of the benefits you would normally receive. You may wish to stop withholding federal income tax from your unemployment compensation benefits while you are working partials because you are also paying federal income tax in your regular employment paycheck.
Overpayments also are deducted from the amount of your weekly benefit check, depending upon what type of overpayment you have been assessed. In the Commonwealth of PA fault overpayments are deducted using the full amount of what you would receive. You may be inclined not to file your biweekly claim because you are not receiving any money but be aware that this overpayment will remain whether or not you decrease it by filing your biweekly claims. Non-fault overpayments are deducted one third of the weekly benefit amount, even if you are receiving less because of working part-time. You may be able to make arrangements with the unemployment office to deduct less because you have a hardship. It does not hurt to check this out.
From time to time, based upon a formula regarding the balance in the unemployment compensation fund, there may be a percentage of your check taken and left in the fund. This is done to keep the fund solvent and applies to everyone collecting unemployment benefits during that period of time. Although it is not a direct deduction from your unemployment paycheck, it is a reduction in the amount you could receive.
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Dependents
A dependent is a spouse, child under the age of eighteen (18) or a child over eighteen (18) who is physically or mentally incapable of holding a job. You must also be the chief, or main, supporter of these dependents. Generally, credit is given for a child you have custody of whether or not that child is your immediate child.
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Discrimination or Wrongful Discharge
Consider the following cases:
Case 1
You were discharged for some lame reason such as not fitting in with the company's direction. You have a lot of seniority, are older, becoming eligible for a pension, etc. You may have never received a poor work performance review. There is a possibility here of age discrimination.
Case 2
You were discharged after filing a sexual harassment claim with your employer. Your employer may have used a different reason for the discharge but the timing was too close to the filing of the sexual harassment claim.
Case 3
You were forced into quitting your job after filing a sexual harassment claim because your employer failed to follow through on your request.
Case 4
You quit your job because of a poor work environment. This occurs when you are continually 'harassed' by one or more people, whether employees, vendors, visitors, customers or whatever. The harassment does not have to be of a sexual nature but something that keeps you from doing your job properly. Perhaps a client makes sexual advances, continually swears at you or just keeps talking to to the point that you cannot work.
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Eligibility
Your eligibility for unemployment benefits is based upon two separate but equal parts:
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Eligibility based on your wages.
You must have worked at least 16 weeks and earned at least $50 per week in the base year. The base year is figured automatically when you file your claim. When you receive your paperwork, you will now exactly what base year is being used. Please note that the base year may vary from State to State and under certain conditions.
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Eligibility based on your separation from your employer.
Your eligibility for benefits also depends upon the reason you were separated. Do not let this prevent you from filing your claim for benefits, though. File immediately! There are actually only three reasons for becoming separated from the employer:
- Lack of work, more commonly called layoff.
- Discharged or fired, when the Employer tells you to leave.
- Voluntary quit, when you decide you have had enough and leave your job.
Lack of work is the only reason that will provide you with benefits with little bother if you are financially eligible, as stated above. However, you must be eligible both financially and due to your separation.
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Extension
From time to time, depending upon the employment/unemployment outlook, the Federal Government may pass a law allowing for an extension of benefits. These laws are particular for the current situation and must be examined at the time they are passed. If you are eligible for extended benefits, you will be notified by the Department of Labor and Industry.
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Filing Timely
You must file your biweekly claim in a timely manner. In Pennsylvania that means filing a claim every two weeks. When you file your initial claim, you will receive information in the mail (and through the internet if you think to read the page) telling you the time frame when you must make your first biweekly claim. However, if you initially request backdating, the paperwork will not inform you when to file your biweekly claim. You must listen to the interviewer and write down the dates you are told to file. when you make your first biweely claim for benefits, be sure to mark your calendar for the next filing period so you won't forget. Failure to file timely could result in a denial of benefits for those weeks. If you are denied, file an appeal.
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Full Time Weekly Wage
Not to be confused with the full-time work week is the full time weekly wage. If you worked for more than one employer in the base year, or worked for an employer who paid you at different rates, depending on the job, you may be eligible to request a rate on your full time weekly wage. Generally, the employer who paid you the most money in the base year would be used. This may result in a higher weekly benefit rate than what is listed on your Notice of Financial Eligibility. If you think your rate should be higher, ask the interviewer to process paperwork for a full time weekly wage.
Suppose you live and work in Pennsylvania and file a claim for PA UC Benefits. You also worked in New York and New Jersey. The unemployment office would request your wages from the other states and combine them with your Pennsylvania wages. If the wages do not have any effect on your eligibility, they will be sent back and not used. Sometimes this is an added benefit: if you are out of work for a long time and run out of benefits on your Pennsylvania unemployment claim and your benefit year has not expired, you may be able to file a new claim with one of the other states. However, once wages are used, they cannot be used towards another claim. Combined wage claims can be rather confusing, so if you want to go into this further, you should do a little investigating by clicking on the links bar on the left and look up each state, under State by State, in which you worked before filing that initial claim. But remember to file you claim immediately, if possible. If necessary, you can change your mind before you file for any weeks.
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Full Time Work Week
There is one possibility that will allow you to collect unemployment compensation benefits while you are working full-time for an employer. If you worked two full-time jobs or one full-time job and one part-time job during the base year and become separated from one of them and you continue to work for the other, you could be eligible for a full-time work week determination. Forms are sent to both of your employers in the base year and your full-time work week is calculated on the number of hours you worked for both employers during the base year. This becomes your full-time work week.
For example, suppose you worked for two full-time employers during the entire base year and worked 40 hours for each one. Your full-time work week would be 80 hours. As long as you continue to work for your current employer less than 80 hours, and have earnings less than the combined rate, you would be eligible for unemployment compensation benefits, even if you worked overtime. The principle is the same for a full-time employer and a part-time employer.
The weekly benefit rate, or weekly benefit allowance, is the amount of unemployment benefits you could receive each week if you did not work at all. The partial benefit credit is the amount of money you could earn at a part-time job. As long as your earnings are less than the partial benefit credit, you would continue to receive the weekly benefit rate.The combined rate is the total of your weekly benefit rate and your partial benefit credit. If your earnings equal the combined rate or more, you will not be eligible for unemployment benefits for that week.
Working and earning the partial benefit credit or less can be advantageous in many ways. First, it is "free" money in that it does not affect the amount of benefits you receive. In addition, it can be used for other purposes that could arise when you file for benefits later or need to earn a certain amount of money to clear an issue with your claim.
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Independent Contractor
For an employer to prove that you are an independent contractor, you must meet two conditions:
- Free from direction or control by the employer.
In other words, your employer does not provide any kind of supervision over your work. They can only tell you what the job is that needs to be done; they cannot tell you how to do it.
- Customarily engaged in an indepentently established, trade, occupation, profession or business.
This condition can be confusing to some. To be cusomarily engaged you must have a financial interest in the 'independent contracting' business, which means you are susceptible to a profit or loss. You should also have some sort of investment in the business, either in money or equipment or such. The burden of proof is on the employer when you state that you are not an independent contractor.
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Military
Military wages may not be used under the following conditions:
- failure to complete your initial term of enlistment
- discharge under certain conditions
- separation due to misconduct, called the narrative reason on your DD Form 214.
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Out of Money
Sooner or later, your claim will come to an end. Either you will run out of money before your benefit year is up, in which case you will not be able to collect benefits for the remaineder of the benefit year, or your benefit year will expire, or come to an end. (Remember, if you worked in more than one state and your wages in another state were not used for your Pennsylvania unemployment claim, you may be able to file a claim against that state if you run out of benefits and your current year is not yet over.)
After your benefit year is over, you may still be eligible to file a subsequent claim for unemployment compensation benefits. One catch here is that you have to have worked between the claims and earned a certain amount of money. This is where working and earning the partial benefit credit comes in handy. This can also be used to purge a denial of benefits because of your separation from your employer.
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Overpayments
In spite of all that you try to do correctly, you could become overpaid. A lot of times, this happens when you do not report your correct earnings when you are working part-time and collecting unemployment compensation benefits. You report your earnings in the week in which they are earned, not when you get paid. Even if you never get paid, your earnings must be reported properly. Do not expect them to be ‘under the table’. Federal law requires any employer who newly hires someone to report this to the state unemployment office. There are too many checks and balances for you to attempt to defraud the unemployment office.
Sometimes you will be found eligible to collect unemployment benefits and the employer does not believe you should be collecting and files an appeal. If the employer wins on appeal, you will be automatically overpaid for any and all weeks for which you have collected benefits. (Once you know that the employer filed an appeal, get a copy of my ebook, Appeal-Winning Strategies, to help you at the hearing.) This overpayment will be classified as a non-fault overpayment and will be collected if you become eligible at a later date. Do not make arrangements to pay it back using your own funds! This is a legitimate overpayment and you do not have to be worried about owing the state the money.
If you have not been honest about the reason for your separation and are finally found out, you will incur a fault overpayment. This means that interest will be added monthly to the amount of the overpayment until it is completely repaid. In many cases, you will also be assessed penalty weeks, one penalty week for each week you are overpaid because of your wrongful statements plus two more for not being honest up front. Do not make arrangements to pay this out of your own funds unless you are brought before a magistrate and are required to do so. This does not happen very often. Always file an appeal for fault overpayments and penalty weeks.
One other kind of overpayment is the non-fault, non-recoupable overpayment. This occurs when the local office finds you eligible for benefits and the employer files an appeal and loses. Then the employer files a further appeal with the Board of Review and wins. At this point, you will be overpaid for all the weeks you have collected, but because of the circumstances surrounding the cause of the overpayment, you do not have to repay it. Another way this can occur is when you are found financially eligible to collect benefits and some wages are removed at a later date, making you ineligible or eligible at a lower rate. This, too, is non-fault, non-recoupable
It is possible to make arrangements with the unemployment office to delay or reduce overpayment recovery if you can prove a hardship. Contact the local office and ask about the process to file a claim for a hardship case.
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Pensions
Some states still deduct a pro-rated amount for Social Security from your unemployment compensation benefits; however, most have done away with this practice. So has Pennsylvania. Private pensions, on the other hand, received from an employer for whom you worked in the base year, are deductible by pro-rating. If your work during the base year affected your eligibility for, or the amount of, your pension, the pension will probably be deducted. If you contributed to the pension plan, only half of the amount may be deducted.
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PREP
This stands for Pennsylvania Re-Employment Program and attendance is mandatory by all claimants who are requested to attend. If you know what date you are returning to work or starting a new job, be sure to call the PREP office at the phone number listed on the notification form. Call them for any reason that prevents you from attending or you may lose benefits for that week. If you are denied benefits for the week, file an appeal.
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Reasonable Assurance
There is a rule called ’reasonable assurance’ regarding schools. This means that you worked for a school in the prior academic year or term or prior to a holiday break and have reasonable assurance of working for a school afterwards. When this happens, the school wages will need to be removed, whether you have only school wages or school wages and non-school wages, so that your unemployment benefits are not based on these wages. Sometimes this allows you to continue to collect benefits and sometimes it causes you to be ineligible. There is not much recourse here unless you can prove that you do not have reasonable assurance of returning to work for a school after the break. It is possible to appeal this and win if you can prove your case.
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Refusing a Job
In certain cases you may be denied benefits if you refuse an offer of a job or refuse a referral to a job. Employers pay a lot of money into the unemployment compensation fund, depending upon how may employees are laid off and collecting benefits based on their wages, and will actively pursue this. You must have a valid reason for refusing the offer of a job or a referral to a job. If you get denied benefits based on this, file an appeal.
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Self Employed
A two-pronged test is involved here.
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You are free from direction or control.
- You are customarily engaged in an indepentently established, trade, occupation, profession or business. Please see Independent Contractor for a definition of this.
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Sideline Business
A four-pronged test applies here.
- The self employment was concurrent with full-time work.
- Since separating from the employer there has been no substantial change, or increase in hours or times worked.
- You are still able and available for full-time work at your previous employer or any other employer. This does not mean that you have to be working; only, that you are able and available for the work.
- The primary source of your income is NOT from the side-line business.
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"Squeaky" Wheel
If you have never heard of the 'squeaky wheel', it is because that is the wheel that keeps getting the grease. If your unemployment benefits are held up for any reason, you need to become a "squeaky wheel" and make a phone call. Ask to speak to a supervisor, even if it means that you will be told the same thing that the interviewer just told you. If you make a habit of speaking to a supervisor every time, it will definitely cause some action on getting your unemployment benefits released.
Finally, to get the extreme grease job, contact your congressional representative. Be a good pleader and your congressional representative will call the correct person to get your unemployment claim resolved in a hurry.
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Training
Due to the Federal Government making treaties with other countries, you may fall under TRA or NAFTA TRA, or whatever the program may be called at the time. If your job was affected because the employer moved to another country, you must file a petition for one of these programs. You may be eligible for further benefits and could possibly receive free training. These benefits are available after you use up all regular unemployment benefits to which you are entitled but the free training, actually going to school, could be available immediately.
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Workers' Compensation
You can get workers' compensation if you have a work-related injury. If you are collecting workers' compensation, do not file a claim for unemployment compensation until after the workers' comp claim is settled. The main reason for this is because, in Pennsylvania, your workers' comp benefits are reduced by the amount of your unemployment compensation benefits. Also, unemployment benefits are taxed at the Federal level but workers' comp is not. In PA, once your workers' comp claim is settled, you can apply for PA UC benefits using the last four completed quarters immediately before the injury. You will need the proper paperwork from your Worker’s Compensation claim. If you or your lawyer do not have it, it can be obtained at:
Physical Records
Bureau of Workers’ Compensation
1171 Cameron St.
Harrisburg, PA 17104
You will need to include your social security number and signature to get this information. Please note that if you are found financially eligible for any amount, you will not be able to use the alternate base year based on your Worker’s Compensation injury. You may want to do some planning by considering the base year you would be using now and your work history before filing an unemployment claim. You may be able to wait a little while until the quarter changes and then file. Due to the nature of some workers' compensation claims and employers' responses to them, you may want to see a lawyer.
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Working Parttime
It is possible to work part time and collect unemployment compensation benefits. The key here is whether or not the part time hours constitute your full time work week. If this is the only job you had during your base year, then this is your full time work week. This also may apply if the majority of your wages are from this part time employer. In this case, file a claim for unemployment benefits and let them decide. Another catch here is if you quit a full time job to go to the part time job. If your only reason for quitting the full time job was to work part time, then that is your full time work week. However, if you quit the other job for some other reason, you may be eligible to collect uc benefits while working the part time job. Make sure you are able and available to work full time if the opportunity arose.
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