Unemployment Insurance

COVID-19 federal instructions for PUA

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The United States Department of Labor has issued instructions regarding the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program.  PUA provides benefits to individuals not eligible for regular unemployment insurance or extended benefits under state or federal law, including people who have exhausted rights to such benefits.  Covered individuals include self-employed, persons seeking part-time employment, persons lacking sufficient work history, and persons who otherwise do not qualify for regular unemployment insurance or extended benefits under state or federal law.

Individuals lacking sufficient work history means they have a recent attachment to the work force, do not have sufficient wages in the last 18 months to establish a claim for regular unemployment insurance, and who because unemployed for one of the COVID-19 related reasons listed below. Self-employed individuals include independent contractors, gig economy workers, and workers for certain religious institutions.

PUA is not payable to persons who can telework with pay or who are receiving paid sick leave or other paid leave benefits.  Persons receiving paid sick leave or other paid leave in an amount less than their customary work may be eligible for PUA but their PUA benefit will be reduced by the amount received in sick leave or other paid leave.  Individuals teleworking for less then what they worked prior to COVID-19 are eligible for PUA but their PUA benefit will be reduced by the amount of their work income.

PUA provides up to 39 weeks of benefits for persons otherwise able and available for work except that they are unemployed, partially employed or unable or unavailable to work because of one of the following COVID-19 related reasons:

  • The individual has been diagnosed with COVID-19 or is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and is seeking a medical diagnosis;
  • A member of the individual’s household has been diagnosed with COVID-19;
  • The individual is providing care for a family member or a member of the individual’s household who has been diagnosed with COVID-19. An individual is providing care if it requires ongoing and constant attention that the ability to perform other work functions is severely limited;
  • A child or other person in the household for which the individual has primary caregiving responsibility is unable to attend school or another facility that is closed as a direct result of the COVID-19 public health emergency and such school or facility care is required for the individual to work. This includes an individual who could telework, but the provision of care to the child or other person requires such ongoing and constant attention that it is not possible for the individual to perform work at home;
  • The individual is unable to reach the place of employment because of a quarantine imposed as a direct result of the COVID-19 public health emergency. This includes inability to reach place of employment because doing so would violate a state or municipal travel restriction;
  • The individual is unable to reach the place of employment because the individual has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19. This includes an individual whose immune system is compromised by a serious health condition and has been advised by a health-care provider to self-quarantine because of greater than average risk of coronavirus infection.
  • The individual was scheduled to commence employment and does not have a job or is unable to reach the job as a direct result of the COVID-19 public health emergency;
  • The individual has become the breadwinner or major support for a household because the head of the household has died as a direct result of COVID-19.
  • The individual has to quit his or her job as a direct result of COVID-19;
  • The individual’s place of employment is closed as a direct result of the COVID-19 public health emergency.
  • Additional criteria established by the Secretary of Labor. The Secretary has determined that individuals who work as independent contractors with reportable income may qualify for PUA if they are unemployed, partially employed or unable or unavailable to work because COVID-19 has severely limited their ability to continue performing their customary work activities and as thereby forced the individual to suspend such activities. For example, a ridesharing service driver who is forced to suspend operations as a direct result of COVID-19 can be eligible for PUA.

Applicants must self-certify that they are able and available for work except for being unemployed, partially unemployed, or unable to work or unavailable for work because of one of the above categories.  States would consider that many of these qualifying circumstances are temporary.  For example, people exposed to COVID-19 may be able to return to work after a period of time, and a school is not considered closed because of COVID-19 after the date the school year was originally scheduled to end.

The benefit amount is computed based on a base period of the most recent tax year that has ended for the individual prior to the individual’s unemployment that was a direct result of the major disaster. Earnings for the base period will be the net income on the applicant’s tax return.  If the applicant did not file a tax return, they must provide documentation of wages earned. If the applicant cannot provide such documentation, the claim will be denied.  Regardless of the amount of wages earned, the minimum benefit payment is 50% of the average weekly payment for the state.

PUA benefits are payable starting January 27, 2020.  Benefits stop for any week ending after December 31, 2020.

States must verify that individuals do not have regular unemployment insurance eligibility before granting PUA.  If the individual is ineligible for regular unemployment insurance because there are insufficient covered wages or the individual has an active unemployment insurance claim with a definite or indefinite disqualification, then the state does not need to require the individual to file a regular unemployment insurance claim.  If the individual’s eligibility for regular unemployment insurance is questionable, then the state must first require the individual to file a regular unemployment insurance claim, and if the individual is found ineligible then the state can consider PUA eligibility.  (Unemployment Insurance Program Letter No. 16-20, April 5, 2020.)

COVID-19 federal instructions for FPUC

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The United States Department of Labor has issued instructions regarding the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Insurance Compensation (FPUC) program.  FPUC provides an additional $600 per week to individuals who are receiving regular unemployment insurance, including Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees and Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Servicemembers.  In addition, FPUC is available to persons receiving Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Extended Benefits, Short-Term Compensation, Trade Readjustment Allowances, Disaster Unemployment Assistance and payments under the Self-Employment Assistance program.  FPUC is available until the week ending on July 31, 2020.

FPUC is not available to persons receiving extended benefits for persons in approved training who have exhausted benefits (in California that is persons receiving California Training Benefits).

FPUC benefits are disregarded for purposes of Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

States must notify potentially eligible individuals of their entitlement to FPUC.  That notice should include the beginning and end date of FPUC.

All terms and conditions of state or federal unemployment insurance that apply to claims for regular unemployment insurance apply to FPUC.

Individuals who are having their regular unemployment insurance intercepted to recover an overpayment are eligible for FPUC.

Child support obligations are deducted from FPUC in the same manner as they are deducted from regular unemployment insurance.

FPUC payments are taxable.  (Unemployment Insurance Program Letter No. 15-20, April 4, 2020.)

COVID-19 implementation of new UI programs

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The Employment Development Department (EDD) has issued information about implementation of the Unemployment Insurance provisions of the CARES Act.

EDD is working on programming for the additional $600 per week payment.  That programming cannot be completed until states receive guidance from the United States Department of Labor.  EDD hopes that the payments can start the week of April 13, 2020.

New applications will continue to take about three weeks to process.

EDD is also waiting for final details about the 13-week extension benefits for people who exhaust current benefits before programming it.

EDD is working with California Department of Technology to develop a new application for the new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program which will provide benefits to people who do not qualify for regular Unemployment Insurance, including self-employed persons.  EDD hopes the program will be similar to the Disaster Unemployment Assistance programs that were available for recent disasters.  (News Release 20-09, April 2, 2020.)

EDD benefits eligibility for Covid-19

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The Employment Development Department (EDD) has issued a statement on its website about benefits eligibility for people impacted by Covid-19.   People certified by a medical professional as unable to work due to having or being exposed to COVID-19 are eligible for State Disability Insurance.

People unable to work because you are caring for an ill or quarantined family member with COVID-19  as certified by a medical professional are eligible for Paid Family Leave, which is up to 6 weeks of benefits.

People who have reduced work hours because the employer has reduced hours or shut down operations due to COVID-19, can file for Unemployment Insurance.

In addition, employers experiencing a slowdown in their businesses or services as a result of the coronavirus impact on the economy may apply for the UI Work Sharing Program which allows employers to retain their trained employees by reducing their hours and wages that can be partially offset with UI benefits.  (EDD Coronavirus-2019.)

 

Good cause for voluntary quit and negation of good cause

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The California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (CUIAB) has issued P-B-514 regarding good cause for voluntary quit and negation of good cause.  The case involves good cause for voluntary quit for verbal harassment and negation of good cause for failing to pursue remedial measures.

The decision first finds that the claimant was subjected to verbal abuse that was insulting, denigrating and intended to humiliate the claimant, and that the claimant was constantly belittled without justification in the workplace.  CUIAB held a reasonable person would find the treatment unacceptably harsh and abusive.  CUIAB continued that this treatment affected the claimant’s physical and mental well-being, and that overall there was an unacceptably harsh work environment.  Based on those findings, CUIAB held that the claimant had good cause to voluntarily quit her employment.

The decision continues that, although failure to give the employer an opportunity to resolve the situation negates good cause, there was not negation in this case.  The burden of proof is on the employer to show negation.  Failure of the employer to respond to an employee’s efforts to resolve a work-related issue relieves the employee of the obligation to make further inquiries or requests prior to leaving the job.

In this case, the claimant complained to human resources several times but did receive a response, and the no action was taken on the complaints.  Employer efforts to resolve a complaint may take significant time and an employee may be expected to be patient if they are informed of those efforts.  In this case, however, the employer did essentially nothing and did not respond to the claimant’s complaints.  As a result, the employer did not sustain its burden to show that the claimant negated good cause for her voluntary quit.  P-B-514 (April 18, 2018).

Misconduct and unemployment insurance ALJ duty to develop the record

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The California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (CUIAB) has issued P-B-510 which holds that due process requires the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) to develop the record in an unemployment insurance hearing.  The case involves termination for tardiness based on an employer’s no fault attendance policy.  The decision first holds that an employer’s attendance policy has no bearing on eligibility for unemployment insurance, and whether an employee has committed misconduct is based on unemployment insurance law and the particular facts of the case and not on the employer’s attendance policy.

The decision continues that, in attendance cases, the final incident must be analyzed to determine if it is misconduct, and that is done by examining whether the incident breached an important duty to the employer and injured or tended to injure the employers interest.  If so, the employee must show good cause.  If there is not good cause, the employee will have committed misconduct if the final incident was substantially detrimental to the employer’s interest or the employee had at least one prior justified warning for a similar incident.

The CUIAB then found that the ALJ had to a duty to develop “a comprehensive evidentiary record” surrounding the final incident, including the reason for the tardiness, the reasons the employee did not provide notice of the tardiness, the impact on the employer and the facts surrounding prior attendance issues and reprimands.  The ALJ failed to develop the record, and that failure justified remand for a new hearing to fully develop the record.  P-B-510 (February 24, 2016).