My question involves unemployment benefits for the state of: NEW JERSEY
I am currently on a maternity leave of absence that from my district - and have been since Sept 2009. I recently found out that my position is being eliminated and I will be terminated due to budget constraints. I had intent to return to work in September 2010 as per my contract, however, with no position to return to, can I collect unemployment? I know they look at base weeks, but not having worked this past school year, does that make me ineligible? I did collect sick pay from Sept 2009 til roughly the middle of October. Then I collected private disability insurance and state disability through November. I am just concerned that I will not be able to collect b/c I did not work in the last year - it's like being punished twice, losing position and ability to collect unemployment.

