Unemployment Benefits for Part-Time Faculty

Adjunct faculty members may be eligible for unemployment benefits over winter break even if they have an assignment for the spring. In order to qualify, one must be able to work and search for a job.

Why do adjuncts qualify for unemployment benefits?

Unlike many teachers, who know they will have a job to come back to in the spring, adjunct faculty are “temporary” employees and have no “reasonable assurance” of re-employment the following term. Their assignments are made on a tentative basis and may be cancelled for a number of reasons: enrollment, program changes, assignment of a full-time faculty member, and district prerogatives. A landmark 1989 decision (Cervisi v Unemployment Ins. Appeals Bd) established that “an assignment that is contingent on enrollment, funding, or program changes is not a ‘reasonable assurance’ of employment.”

Partial Benefits

If you are only partially employed for the winter, you may qualify for reduced benefits. Eligibility and benefits amounts are based on income. Please refer to the EDD website for more details. If you are in doubt about whether or not you qualify, just go ahead and apply. Be sure to report all income.

About Applying for Benefits

Applications can be filed online at www.edd.ca.gov/fleclaim.htm or by calling the Employment Development Department (EDD) at 1-800-300-5616.

Plan to apply for benefits on your first day of unemployment. Your claim will start at the beginning of the week you apply. Payments will only go back to the first day of application, so be sure to submit your claim in a timely fashion. There is a one-week waiting period for each benefit year, which begins with the date of filing for benefits and ends one calendar year later. Note that you are paid from the beginning of flex week through the end of the academic semester (unless you have a specified, shorter-term contract).

Be sure to let them know you are a temporary, part-time employee and that you do NOT have reasonable assurance of a job to go back to. It is important to understand, and convey when filing, that your assignment may be withdrawn at the District’s discretion at the last minute because of funding, enrollment, or other changes. This language is found in section 16.5 of the Contract, we recommend you have a copy on hand during the application process. You may also want to mention your entitlement to benefits under the case of Cervisi v. California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (1989) 256 Cal.Rptr.142.

When filing your claim, please note that your union number is AFT local 4400 and that the union does not operate a hiring hall or help its members find work (answer “no” to 22 d-g).

More Information  

• For filling information and details about eligibility see the EDD website at www.edd.ca.gov/fleclaim.htm.
• For general information and links to useful handbooks see the CCFT website at http://ccftcabrillo.org/parttimers/unemployment.php.

If you have additional questions or comments, please call CCFT representative Maya Bendotoff at 464-2238.