Am I Eligible for Benefits

[brad miller]

My question involves unemployment benefits for the state of: ca


so i've been receiving unemployment checks for a few months now. I just got my claim form for a few weeks ago so that I can fill out to get unemployment check for that period. But during 2 those weeks, I'm not sure what to say

Since I've been applying to grad schools as well as looking for jobs, I visited a school for a few days. I was also working part-time, but my employer let me take time off to go visit that school. But since I've had to visit schools for the past few weeks now, its been hard for me to continue working for them. Does this count as 'refusing work'?


Also, I received an offer for a full-time job, but it paid LESS than that part-time job and it required a 1-2 hour long commute so I was hesitant to accept it. When I told the employer that I wanted to start 2 weeks after the deadline to accept the offer or not, he was ok with that. But when I asked about how flexible the work hours were, he decided that this job wasn't for me and suggested I look elsewhere. Does this also count as me 'refusing work'?

Because I also mentioned that I would likely leave the part-time job due to the full-time offer, it was kind of assumed that I would leave that part-time job. But since the full-time job offer was withdrawn, and I'm about to finish visiting schools, I may get in contact with that for that part-time job again.


For 'reason no longer working or still working', do I mention that it was because I got a full-time job offer? Or because I had to visit schools? Either way, would I still be eligible for benefits? I know EDD encourages FULL time work, not PART time, so its not like its a big violation I made by 'refusing' the part time job, right?

[Mr. Knowitall]

If you quit your job or refuse shifts because you are taking personal trips to look at schools, that can reasonably be described as refusing work.

I am not going to speculate as to whether EDD might view your actions toward the prospective full-time job as sabotaging a job offer, or if your reasons for pushing for flexible hours would be deemed reasonable - recall that in a big picture sense they want everything else in your life, as much as possible, to bend to get you to work, not the other way around.

If you quit a part-time job that was resulting in a partial offset of your benefits, I would expect that EDD would reduce your ongoing benefit accordingly. If you report that you quit a part-time job to take full-time employment, but never started the full-time job, I would expect an investigation of your circumstances and possibly the suspension or termination of your benefits.

I don't have the full facts to work with, so I won't rule out the possibility that my impressions might be changed by facts not available to me.

[brad miller]

If you quit your job or refuse shifts because you are taking personal trips to look at schools, that can reasonably be described as refusing work.

I am not going to speculate as to whether EDD might view your actions toward the prospective full-time job as sabotaging a job offer, or if your reasons for pushing for flexible hours would be deemed reasonable - recall that in a big picture sense they want everything else in your life, as much as possible, to bend to get you to work, not the other way around.

If you quit a part-time job that was resulting in a partial offset of your benefits, I would expect that EDD would reduce your ongoing benefit accordingly. If you report that you quit a part-time job to take full-time employment, but never started the full-time job, I would expect an investigation of your circumstances and possibly the suspension or termination of your benefits.

I don't have the full facts to work with, so I won't rule out the possibility that my impressions might be changed by facts not available to me.

I just finished my last school visit this weekend. Should I just not even submit my claim form for the past month, to avoid the trouble of them thinking I quit my part-time job and refused a full-time job just so I could visit schools? And just start submitting my claim forms starting from now?

[cbg]

Brad, on the other board where you posted this question, you received a detailed answer spelling out exactly what you should and should not do, from one of the most knowledgeable people in UI issues that posts on any board. She has over 30 years direct experience working with unemployment benefits from the inside. You are not going to get a better answer than she gave you here or on any other board where I post - and that is quite a few.

If you are looking for someone to tell you to do what you want to do, so that you can justify doing it, there's a board I can send you to where they'll pretty much always give you the answer you want to hear, whether it's the right answer or not. But if you're looking for someone to give you the correct legal answer that will give you the best possible answer given your specific set of facts, you got that several days ago.