Part-time community college faculty members are eligible for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits between semesters (if you have no other source of income) or if your assignment is cut. Eligibility for unemployment benefits is based upon the court ruling known as the "Cervisi Decision" and the fact that part-time faculty have "no reasonable assurance" of employment because their status is legally considered "temporary" and is contingent upon funding, enrollment, and program needs.
Part-time faculty members may legally apply for unemployment while receiving pension benefits, such as Social Security and STRS defined benefit pension.
The "Unemployment Filing Guide” website, created and maintained by John Govsky of Cabrillo College, provides a comprehensive look at the complete process of filing for unemployment with an explicit step-by-step guide for filling in every question on the UI application. John is amazing!
You will need a lot of information if this is your first time filing for UI. One large set of information needed is the past 18 months of your earnings information, from all your employers. John has set up general worksheets for other employers but the SMC Faculty Association has set up a spreadsheet where you can enter data directly from your SMC paystubs to automatically generate all the requested numerical information for the application, including:
Once you have collected all your SMC paystubs, open the "SMC Unemployment Insurance Calculator" below, and follow the instructions.
SMC Unemployment Insurance Calculator
Now that you have the numerical information needed for your SMC employment (save and print a copy for your later reference), go to John's website, read his "How to file" overview, and click on either the "Step-by-step guide to filing a NEW claim" or the "Step-by-step guide to REOPENING a claim". Remember any time John refers you to a worksheet to calculate something, you already have that information on one of the sheets of the "SMC UI Calculator". Also, always say NO, you have no future promise of employment, even though John says you could respond YES.
Remember, you are "a part-time, contingent, community college instructor, with no contract and no reasonable assurance of re-employment" for the following semester, even if your department has tentatively offered you a class for the following semester. Those are the magic words if you are ever questioned about possible upcoming assignments. You should NOT say that you have a job for the next semester - that class could be taken away for any of many reasons not within your control, which is why you are eligible for unemployment benefits as soon as the current semester ends.
Also remember that you should answer NO to the question that asks, "Are you a member of a union?" In the context of that EDD question, the SMC Faculty Association is not considered a union because we do not provide services that go out and try to find other jobs for you.
The EDD has a clear information page HERE to follow for filing for unemployment or "under-employment" if your hours are cut.
If you are ever denied Unemployment Benefits, appeal immediately - and please contact us.
