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 COC Part-Time Faculty United
Unemployment Facts - Your Rights!

College of the Canyons Part-Time Faculty United
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Thanks to AFT, You Can Get Unemployment Benefits At the End of This Semester

The following information comes from the Ventura County Federation of College Teachers, AFT, Local 1828, AFL-CIO, Part-Time Caucus, April 2002 edition of its newsletter AFT Part-Time Faculty News.

"UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS FOR PART-TIME FACULTY: The Right to Unemployment Benefits

"Here's one hard earned right part-time faculty can exercise two or three times a year, and yet few of us do: The right to draw unemployment pay between semesters and during the summer break (if we ever take a summer break!) is one of the few advantages to being employed as part-time, temporary instructors with no guarantee of "rehire."  For even if we have signed a contract to teach the following semester, including summer school, we can still collect unemployment during those breaks, since fluctuating enrollment and funding can break that contract at any time and leave us jobless.

"In 1989, an American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local in San Francisco won an important victory in the California Court of Appeal.  In its precedent setting decision, the Court affirmed the union's view that part-time faculty do not have "reasonable assurance" of reassignment rights in the next school term and therefore should not be ineligible for unemployment benefits during periods of lay-off.  Since the decision, now known officially as the Cervisi Decision, part-time faculty around the state who have no job security, whose assignments are contingent on adequate funding, enrollment, and program changes, should be eligible for benefits. Part-time faculty who are unemployed after the end of any semester or summer session can therefore apply for and receive benefits provided they are otherwise eligible for benefits.  Unemployment benefits are not a "hand-out" but a right to compensation for the very real lack of job security with the district.  Take advantage of this hard won right!  Apply for unemployment during your breaks!

"How Do You Apply For Unemployment Benefits?

"On the first day of unemployment,call the Employment Development Department (EDD) Office, 1-800-300-5616.  This number changes periodically, so you may have to look it up. Don't delay, as payments only go back to the first day of application.  There is, however, a one-week unpaid waiting period for each benefit year, which begins with the date of filing for benefits and ends one calendar year later.  Currently, the maximum payment per week is $330; most part-time faculty who apply usually receive this amount.

"During your phone interview, be sure to emphasize that your future employment is dependent upon 1) enrollment, 2) funding, and 3) program changes, and 4) that the Cervisi Decision of 1989 set a judicial precedent for community college faculty to receive unemployment benefits.

"After your phone interview is completed and checked, you will also be mailed a claim booklet containing cards for recording your search for work.  You may also be asked to demonstrate to EDD that you are actively seeking work appropriate for your skills and training.  The cards should record where you look for exactly the kind of work you have been doing (for example, call the private schools to find out if they have a vacancy for an art instructor if that is what your position was with the district last semester).  You are not expected to look for a job outside your regular line of work until after a few months have elapsed and you still have not found the work you are trained for and qualified to do.

"How To Appeal If Your Request For Benefits Is Denied

"Despite the favorable appellate court decision, EDD has been slow to get the message.  Some part-timers are still being found ineligible for benefits on the basis that they have "reasonable assurance" of assignment for the upcoming semester.  However, given the appellate court decision, we know that denials can be, and have been, reversed upon appeal.

"If your application is denied, you should file an appeal after you have received the denial in writing.  Ordinary stationery is acceptable.  Include your social security number on all correspondence.  The following is an example of am appeal:

" 'I wish to appeal the determination to deny benefits based on the Cervisi Decision (Cervisi v. Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board––208 Cal. App. 3d 635: Cal. Rptr. 142 Feb. 1989) and the following grounds: I am a temporary hourly employee laid off because of lack of work.  When I am employed, I am paid on an hourly basis.  Any assignment I receive is contingent on funding, enrollment, and program changes.  Consequently, as a temporary employee without an actual or implied contract, I do not have reasonable assurance of continued employment and am eligible for unemployment benefits.'

"IMPORTANT!  To be eligible for benefits if your appeal is won, you must continue to submit cards from the EDD for each two week period that you are unemployed.

"If you have questions about unemployment benefits or the appeal process, or if you would like a hard copy of the Cervisi Decision, contact [COC Part-Time Faculty United by email or call 1-800-662-1911].  Also, you may find out more about unemployment benefits on the EDD web page at edd.cahwnet.gov/eddhome.htm."

End of newsletter article.

Unemployment benefits: one COC part-timer’s experience

COC part-time English instructor Virginia (Sasha) Requa offers her story below.

Just like many adjunct faculty, I was uncertain as to whether or not I was entitled to unemployment benefits in the summer.  However, I applied, because I was not offered a summer assignment at College of the Canyons.  Because it was summer, LAUSD was also calling rarely to substitute teach.  I could not be hired at a temporary agency, because my previous salary was too high, and my clerical experience over five-years ago.  

Disappointingly, despite the legitimacy of my claim, the Employment Development Office (EDD) denied my claim.  Upon the advice of AFT Issues Committee Member Merle Demroff, I appealed my decision to an administrative judge.  Naturally, the thought of appearing before a judge intimidated me.  However, I set up a court date.  (My problem could have been handled by a phone call, but I was unable to schedule a phone interview due to my teaching schedule).  The judge turned out to be very nice and sympathetic.  The courtroom turned out to be an office in Chatsworth and we met in a room the size of a kitchen.  We were the only people in the room along with a tape recorder.  I made sure to remind the judge of the 1989 Cervisi v. California Unemployment Insurance Appeals board decision and the fact I was a temporary employee.  I knew the decision would go my way, when we were through and the tape recorder was off, he said, “Off the record, good luck to you.”  Two days later, I received the judge’s decision, reversing the EDD’s decision and making me eligible for unemployment benefits.  The moral of the story is: Go for it!  You will win!

In Unity,

Virginia Requa
Secretary, Executive Board 
AFT Local 6262
Part-Time Faculty Member
Department of English at COC

Read the story of the Cervisi Decision on The Part-Timer Post.

The following article comes from the Volume 4, Number 2, Spring 2002 edition of the CPFA NEWS (Santa Monica: California Part-Time FAculty Association, 2002) and contains additional helpful perspectives and suggestions related to this issue:

"Applying for Unemployment Compensation between terms

"Unlike K-12 teachers, who are ineligible for unemployment compensation over summer break if they have teaching contracts for the following academic year (what the state defines as "reasonable assurance of employment"), part-time/temporary community college instructors are eligible for these benefits if they are available for work and have not been offered summer (or interim break) teaching assignments.

"The California Court of Appeals ruled in 1989 in Cervisi vs, California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board that the promise of a teaching assignment in the fall is NOT "reasonable assurnace of employment" if your assignment is subject to cancellation for lack of enrollment, "bumping" by a full-time instructor, or any other reason.  This ruling, pertaining specifically to part-time/ temporary faculty in the California Community Colleges, is explained to unemployment compensation caseworkers in the EDD Field Directive 89-55UI.  If you apply for unemployment compensation and the caseworker seems unfamiliar with this rule, you will need to explain the rule and refer to the field directive.  Many instructors who have gone through this process recommend that if a caseworker still seems argumentative or unconvinced after you explain the rule, it is best to terminate the call and start the application process over by calling again.

"You may not be eligible for unemployment compensation if you have income from employment elsewhere during the priod in question.  The cutoff for eligibility is currently around $300 per week, but you should check with EDD on the specifics.

"Recently there have been disputes with EDD over what constitutes the last day of work for community college instructors.  Instructors paid on an hourly basis, for in-class hours only, generally assert that the date of the last final exam is the last day of work.  If you are paid on some other basis, consult with your union local's legal expert."

If anyone has questions, please contact COC Part-Time Faculty United. 

The following is are some emails sent to the California part-time faculty listservs, containing useful 
formation from people who have been through the process:

June 14, 2002:

Please, please read this message to the very end; it is important.

This summer it seems as though districts are doing everything they can to discourage part-time faculty from filing for unemployment benefits. 

For instance, in my district every part-time faculty received in their June 10th paycheck a letter stating that we may have the right to file a claim for unemployment insurance. Then the letter continues to say that if you do not receive a Change in Relationship Form then "you are scheduled for or have reasonable assurance of work during the 2002-2003 academic year." The catch phrase here is reasonable assurance.

Part-time faculty are entitled to benefits even if their employer requires them to sign a form stating they have "reasonable assurance" of re-employment. The only measure of "reasonable assurance" is whether the assignment is contingent upon enrollment, funding, bumping, or district's needs – saying there is reasonable assurance does not make it so. If you, as part-time faculty, can lose a class assignment for any of the above mentioned reasons, then you do not have reasonable assurance that you will teach even if your district asked you to sign an "agreement" to teach. This agreement to teach is not a guarantee that you will teach, it only means that you will teach if the classes are available. But this is a method districts use so that they can tell the unemployment department people (EDD) when they check with the district regarding a claim, that such an "agreement" exists and this generally means you will be denied unemployment compensation, and you will have to appeal this bogus "agreement" with EDD.

Further, during negotiations our District management insisted that the following wording be added to the union contract: "Part-time assignments will be made available after contract, regular, overload, long-term substitute, and categorically funded assignments have been made. The District recognizes, according to the California Education Code, the fact that part-time instructors have no legal right to or expectation of continued employment...." So, my district is talking out of both sides of their mouth; on one hand they send a letter saying we have "reasonable assurance", but in the union contract they say part-time instructors have no legal right to or expectation of continue employment. District is counting on part-time instructors not knowing what is in the union contract. 

Neither does seniority/rehire rights (if your district has negotiated these) guarantee that you will teach; seniority/rehire rights only means that if classes are available that first consideration shall be given to current part-time instructors based on qualifications, educational preparation to fulfill a particular assignment and the needs of the District. 

Unemployment compensation for part-time, temporary, at-will faculty was established in Unemployment Insurance Code 1253.3 and Cervisi v. California Unemployment Insurance appeals Board (1998) 208 Cal.App.3e654.  Cervisi covers all part-time faculty and we are entitled to compensation for periods between semesters, including summer breaks. Unfortunately most employees at EDD have no knowledge of Cervisi. 

Now for the really, really good news: FACCC [Faculty Association of California Community Colleges] has gotten the ear of someone who can help part-time faculty in their struggle for unemployment claims. But they need to hear from those of us who have been denied a claim and/or who have had to challenge such a denial. Please send your experience (good or bad) to FACCC; they need to hear from you: lindsey@faccc.org.

Margaret Quan

June 14, 2002:

I agree with everything Margaret writes. However, in Los Rios [Community College District in northern California], the really, really good news is that for many years we have been able to reverse, on appeal, denial of benefit claims for part-timers seeking unemployment compensation, when that denial was based on a determination by the EDD that the part-timer had "reasonable assurance." My files are full of cases where the union has appealed these denials, up to the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, and won in every case.

So, at least for part-timers in Los Rios, the first call should be to your local union office and then to FACCC.

Robert Perrone
[FYI: Robert Perrone came all the way down to COC to assist COC part-timers in our card collecting drive last April]

June 16, 2002:

Hi all,

When I had my EDD interview, the interviewer asked if I had reasonable assurance of future employment and I said that no,  it was contingent on enrollment, funding, and not being bumped by a full-timer.  I added,"this is all from the Cervisi decision."  She said, "excuse me?" and I said, "the Cervisi decision, the court case, are you familiar with it?"  She chuckled and said, "Oh, yes, Cervisi, I'm very familiar with it. I've never had someone cite the case before; we try to get an answer in the claimant's own words."  It sounds like they know we should be eligible, but if part-timers don't know the rules well, they could be denied because of their own ignorance, not the EDD's. 

Megan Elsea
Sacramento City College