Unemployment Benefits: Avoiding Pause in Your Benefits Due to Short Term Work

[Bootonomus]

Hi, I am a designer collecting unemployment. I've taken some short term assignments one recently being a week long gig. Every Sunday I claim and after this job I claimed, entered that I made over $405 and was finished with this job due to lack of work. Which it was unfortunately. UIB stated that I wouldn't receive benefits that week which I understand. I received a letter in the mail asking for info on the company which I gave (they know a letter might be coming and knew to give the reason of lack of work) and answered some other questions (did this before for a two day gig). Anyway it's been three weeks and I've been claiming without having any work and have not received my weekly owed benefits. Why such the hold up?

A fellow unemployed friend mentioned he just didn't mention work/report it when he worked and didn't claim for that week. When not working he would go back and claim his rightful benefits. No shady business here. Should I just not mention short term contract work and not claim those weeks of work to avoid this long hold up?

[cbg]

Sure, if you don't mind committing fraud.

As to the holdup, there are currently record numbers of claims being submitted, with fewer than ever staff. You'll get your checks eventually.

[Bootonomus]

Fraud, not a good word

Figured. Guess my friend was lucky.

Thanks for the tip and will report ALL work and regarding checks being sent out.

[cbg]

And his luck may not hold. The UI office DOES compare the work records sent out by employers with the claims submitted. Just because no one's caught him yet, doesn't mean he won't get caught.

[mamabear2102003]

This is a pretty good subject that deserves attention. I was also told that it was ok to not 'claim' a week of UI if you were working, and just continue from there. (Not that it has done me much good cause I still haven't found any work). I did delay filing for UI for a week, because I had worked one day (didn't get paid), but it was my understanding that if I worked, it would still count against my benefits. So, skipping a week of UI benefits because of income isn't allowed? Good info to have.

[Bootonomus]

Good info indeed. Just got through to an actual person regarding my three weeks of benefits that have been on hold. Turns out the person checking my claim of lack of work for my week gig had forgotten to take my payments off hold. So i've been waiting for no fault of my own. The UIB rep was nice and said I should receive my benefits within three days. Cross my fingers.

[cbg]

Okay, now I'm getting confused.

If you work a temporary job, and you know that you have earned enough to disqualify you from benefits for that week, AND your state allows you to skip a week without having to re-open the claim (mine does not), then you're okay with just skipping a week, not claiming anything, and then claiming again the following week. What's not okay is working part time so that your benefits should be reduced, but not eliminated, and not reporting it. That's what I thought we were talking about.

In my state, if you skip a week for ANY reason, your claim is closed and you have to take action to reopen it. You cannot do it on line - you have to either get someone on the phone or make a physical visit to a walk-in center. In order to get the claim reopened, you need to explain why you did not file the preceding week or weeks - i.e. that you were working. (This will ultimately benefit you if you should take longer than you anticipate to find full time work, and need to file a second claim when the current one expires.) They will not reopen the claim otherwise.

But if your state doesn't have that requirement, and you never claim any benefits that you wouldn't be eligible for due to to the wages you were earning, you're all right.

[mamabear2102003]

Now we're getting somewhere. It's my understanding that you can skip a week in our state (MI) for temp work (or illness that prohibits a job search), resuming the next week without any reprecussions. You don't want to claim a week of UI without reporting income (fraud). Makes more sense that different states have different laws, and really points out why it's important to list your state in your original posting.

[icedragon101]

i worked in the UI system for 5 years IN NEBRASKA.
there could be a number of reason for this. When you equal or go over your Weekly Benifit Amount (WBA) the claim automatically shuts down. they don't owe you any thing any more because you are not eliglible for benifits. if the next week you are unemployed again then you must reopen the claim. when you reopen the claim they ask you if you have any more work, when you say yes the claim must be processed to see if you were "seprated from your job thorugh NO fault of your own." if it is your fault then a penalty will follow, if not then you will recieve benifits again.

If you want to recieve benifits WITHOUT BEING INTURRUPTED, then you must make less then your WBA. depending upon which state you are in the amount will vary. in nebraska if you made under half then you recived you full benifte, if you made over half but under you full amount you recieved 1/2 of your WBA. if you went over your full amount then were not paid for that week. you would have to REOPEN the claim the next week you were unemployed.

[PattyPA]

you would have to REOPEN the claim the next week you were unemployed.

That is going to depend on the state. In my state of PA, your claim is only inactivated if choose to not file for two weeks in a row. All that is then needed is a phone call to the department to reactivate the claim.