Question: My husband receives $405 per week in unemployment benefits. If he takes a part-time, seasonal job, can he still receive benefits? He would work 19 hours a week for 11 weeks. The job would pay $3,000 total, half payable after five weeks and the balance when the season is over. So would unemployment pay the difference between $250, about what he would take home weekly from the job, and the $405 in benefits he is getting now? Also, when the season is over, can he reapply for unemployment benefits or would they renew automatically?
Answer: The important thing to bear in mind is that for each day your husband works while collecting unemployment benefits, his benefits will be reduced by one-fourth. And both of you would be amazed at how broad the definition of work is under state labor law.
“You are considered employed on any day when you perform any services — even an hour or less — regardless of whether you get paid for that day,” the state Labor Department says.
And seasonal work or not, if your husband earns more than $405 a week, the weekly unemployment-benefits maximum, he wouldn’t receive any benefits for that week.
Laid-off workers are required to report any employment while they are receiving benefits. Failure to do so can be risky: “If you work while receiving benefits and do not report that employment, even if it is part-time work, you may be committing fraud,” the department says. “You must report all full-time and part-time employment to the Labor Department or risk criminal penalties.” As to your other question about an automatic renewal. If your husband’s benefits are reduced or discontinued because he finds work and he later becomes unemployed again, he has to sign up for benefits again.
Generally, unemployed workers receive up to 26 weekly payments in a year, though some special government programs extend the benefits because of the economic downturn.
——— Q: I was laid off and want to go back to school to change careers.
Can I collect unemployment benefits if I go back? I want to obtain a doctorate and try to get a college teaching job.
A: Going back to school doesn’t automatically disqualify you from receiving benefits.
“Assuming that you are a New York resident, and are otherwise qualified to receive unemployment benefits, participation in a Ph.D.
program will not necessarily preclude you from continuing to receive benefits,” said Ellen Storch, counsel at Kaufman Dolowich Voluck & Gonzo in Woodbury, N.Y.
But here’s a caveat: You must remain ready, willing and able to work, Storch said, and that might mean putting the Ph.D. program on hold.
“You must be prepared to discontinue the Ph.D. program if a suitable job opportunity is offered and you must be making efforts to find employment,” she said.
One possible way to combine retraining with unemployment benefits is to apply for the State Labor Department’s 599 program, Storch said.
If you’re accepted into the program, you can continue to receive benefits — and possibly even additional weeks of benefits — and you do not have to look for work, she said. But the training program must be approved by the department and cannot require more than 24 months to complete.
“As Ph.D.s typically take much longer to obtain, it is unlikely that you would be approved,” Storch said.
Still, it’s worth checking out.
——— ABOUT THE WRITER Carrie Mason-Draffen is a columnist for Newsday and the author of “151 Quick Ideas to Deal With Difficult People.” Readers may send her e-mail at carrie.draffen@newsday.com.
——— (c) 2009, Newsday.
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