Adjunct unemployment benefits are available for a reason. However, most adjunct unemployment benefit applicants do not know the reason. In Cervisi v. California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (1989) 208 Cal.App.3ed 635 the court determined that if if an adjunct is required to sign a form stating that the adjunct has “reasonable assurance” of re-employment (such a form is known as a “yellow dog” contract) the form is worthless because there are simply too many possible circumstances that will prevent an adjunct being re-employed by the college or university.
Adjunct Unemployment Benefits Denial
It is entirely possible that an adjunct’s application for unemployment benefits could be denied by the by the governmental agency responsible for determining an adjunct eligibility for unemployment benefits. If an adjunct is denied unemployment benefits, he or she has the right to appeal the decision. However, do not delay appealing the denial because any delay could extend the time an adjunct does not receive unemployment benefits.
Help for Adjunct Unemployment Benefits
California Part-time Faculty Association member Margaret Quan has provided a boilerplate response for any adjunct denied unemployment benefits.
Any adjunct applying for unemployment benefits is well advised to visit The CPFA Forum’s page on Unemployment Entitlements.
A Personal Note from This Blog’s Adjunct Author
The information concerning adjunct unemployment benefits in this blog is strictly for educational purposes. There is no legal advice in this blog.
There are few things more irritating than an adjunct ignorant of the very economic tools available to help him or her survive the adjunctification of the academy. The first time the author of this blog, and adjunct, needed to apply for unemployment benefits he first asked the two senior faculty members in his department. Neither tenured professor had a clue. This author was left to his own devices, which, as it turned out, were quite enough to navigate the information of the Internet concerning adjunct unemployment benefits. The author of this blog sincerely hopes every adjunct takes his or her financial circumstance into his or her own hands; there is no point expecting assistance from the colleges and universities in this matter.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Adjunct Can Collect Unemployment Benefits
Unemployment Benefits Are Available For College Adjuncts
The sole purpose of this blog is to let college adjuncts know that they can apply for and collect unemployment benefits between semesters.
It may be hard to believe, but apparently there are adjuncts who do not know they are eligible for unemployment benefits. There are college teachers who adjunct and do not know if they are laid off even if they have no class or classes to teach!
Of course, it is important to know what it means to be an unemployed college adjunct.
An unemployed college adjunct is a higher education teacher who does not have a guaranteed class to teach, and is almost impossible to guarantee an adjunct classes from one semester to another. For example, if an adjunct's classes end at the close of the regular spring semester, and the adjunct doesn't teach any classes during the summer, then that adjunct is unemployed and is eligible to receive unemployment benefits until the first day of the next class in the Fall.
How an Adjunct Can Collect Unemployment Benefits
An unemployed adjunct, which is any college teacher who does not have "reasonable assurance" of another class, can apply for unemployment benefits the moment after he or she gives the final exam of the semester.
Literally, that means a college adjunct can walk to the nearest computer the moment after the last final exam of a semester's class is given and apply online for unemployment benefits.
The definition of "reasonable assurance" is defined in the landmark Cervisi v. California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (1989) 256 Cal.Rptr.142 case. In 1989, the local American Federation of Teachers at San Francisco City College secured a legal ruling from the California Court of Appeals that defined lack of funding, low enrollment, or other factors (and there are many other factors, such as a full time faculty taking an adjunct's classes)as ample evidence of a lack of "reasonable assurance."
Adjunct Unemployment Benefits Are A Right
No adjunct should be reduced to eating his or her own shoes strings instead of collecting unemployment benefits. It is hard enough to make a decent living as a college adjunct without having suffer the loss of a weekly check just because the school decided to cut the funding for a section of classes.
Every college adjunct, either online or on-ground, has a right to unemployment benefits if he or she is laid off. Adjuncts may encounter resistance from the school or schools when asking about the possibility of collecting unemployment benefits.
Therefore, it is a very good idea for adjuncts to read Access to Unemployment Insurance Benefits for Contingent Faculty. The information contained in this document could very well help adjuncts avoid a cashless period between classes.
The sole purpose of this blog is to let college adjuncts know that they can apply for and collect unemployment benefits between semesters.
It may be hard to believe, but apparently there are adjuncts who do not know they are eligible for unemployment benefits. There are college teachers who adjunct and do not know if they are laid off even if they have no class or classes to teach!
Of course, it is important to know what it means to be an unemployed college adjunct.
An unemployed college adjunct is a higher education teacher who does not have a guaranteed class to teach, and is almost impossible to guarantee an adjunct classes from one semester to another. For example, if an adjunct's classes end at the close of the regular spring semester, and the adjunct doesn't teach any classes during the summer, then that adjunct is unemployed and is eligible to receive unemployment benefits until the first day of the next class in the Fall.
How an Adjunct Can Collect Unemployment Benefits
An unemployed adjunct, which is any college teacher who does not have "reasonable assurance" of another class, can apply for unemployment benefits the moment after he or she gives the final exam of the semester.
Literally, that means a college adjunct can walk to the nearest computer the moment after the last final exam of a semester's class is given and apply online for unemployment benefits.
The definition of "reasonable assurance" is defined in the landmark Cervisi v. California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (1989) 256 Cal.Rptr.142 case. In 1989, the local American Federation of Teachers at San Francisco City College secured a legal ruling from the California Court of Appeals that defined lack of funding, low enrollment, or other factors (and there are many other factors, such as a full time faculty taking an adjunct's classes)as ample evidence of a lack of "reasonable assurance."
Adjunct Unemployment Benefits Are A Right
No adjunct should be reduced to eating his or her own shoes strings instead of collecting unemployment benefits. It is hard enough to make a decent living as a college adjunct without having suffer the loss of a weekly check just because the school decided to cut the funding for a section of classes.
Every college adjunct, either online or on-ground, has a right to unemployment benefits if he or she is laid off. Adjuncts may encounter resistance from the school or schools when asking about the possibility of collecting unemployment benefits.
Therefore, it is a very good idea for adjuncts to read Access to Unemployment Insurance Benefits for Contingent Faculty. The information contained in this document could very well help adjuncts avoid a cashless period between classes.
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