Gaining Access to Unemployment Insurance

The system is stacked against contingents, but these strategies can help.

By Beverly Stewart

In some states, contingent faculty routinely receive unemployment compensation between semesters. In California, contingents owe that benefit to the decision in the hard-fought 1989 case Cervisi v. California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. In other states, such as Illinois, unemployment benefits are awarded on a case-by-case basis; some contingent faculty receive them and others do not, depending on the case and how vigorously an institution challenges a claim. In yet other states, filing for unemployment can result not only in a denial of benefits but also in the loss of a job.

The ability of contingent academic laborers to secure unemployment benefits depends on how the concept of “reasonable assurance” is interpreted, that is, does an applicant have reasonable assurance of being hired the next semester? That standard was set in the 1970s, when the Social Security Act was expanded to make public employees, including teachers, eligible to receive unemployment. Legislators did not, however, want full-time teachers to apply for unemployment during summer breaks unless they could prove that they had no reasonable assurance of employment in the fall. This standard still applies. So today, now that contingents represent more than half of the higher education teaching force, countless faculty members who have no reasonable assurance of employment for the next semester must demonstrate that fact to receive unemployment benefits. What constitutes proof varies from state to state, and the burden of proving a negative falls on individual instructors should their institutions challenge their claims.

Using contingent faculty gives colleges and universities scheduling flexibility, and the lack of obligation to offer benefits to contingents saves them much money. I contend that, in return for this shirking of responsibility, institutions of higher education should provide the merest unemployment insurance benefit to its contingent labor force. The economic lives of contingent faculty members can be devastated by the loss of a single class, and the wage gap they experience between semesters causes them great financial strain. For that reason, I worked with Joe Berry and Helena Worthen of the University of Illinois’ Labor Education Program to write Access to Unemployment Insurance Benefits for Contingent Faculty: A Manual for Applicants and a Strategy to Gain Full Rights to Benefits. The three of us are working with other activists to win that right for all contingent academics, beginning in our home state of Illinois (see sidebar).

Tips for Getting Benefits

What follows is a summary of strategies that contingent academics or their local and state unions might follow in seeking unemployment benefits for contingents.

Step 1. Read our manual, cited above, and do not overlook the appendix, which summarizes by state the realities reported by activists (unfortunately, information is not available from all states).

Step 2. Subscribe to the ADJ-L Listserv of the Coalition of Contingent Academic Labor, where you will find a community of activists spanning the North American continent. To subscribe, go to http://adj-l.org/mailman/listinfo/adj-l_adj-l.org. Listserv participants can answer your questions about filing for benefits and introduce you to local activists or unions that may be working on this issue in your state. Some states uphold institutional decisions to dismiss or not re-employ those who seek benefits. Checking with Listserv participants is a useful way to determine whether you are in one of those states. The National Education Association offers legal support to members who live in such states who lose their jobs for filing claims.

Step 3. Go to the agency in your state that handles unemployment insurance to obtain claim forms and filing rules. Although each state handles unemployment differently, the general application process may be similar from state to state. In many states, it is best to file in person instead of online, because the complexities of contingent employment do not match the format of the claim form. It is easier to explain your situation to a person and avoid the risk of getting the online form wrong. Bring pages twenty-seven and twenty-eight of the Access to Unemployment manual with you when you file as well as two forms of identification, one with a photograph; the social security number of your spouse, if you have one; a record of your employment history going back eighteen months, including check stubs for the entire period; and the names and birth dates of any dependents you may have.  A key question is how to date employment. Contingent faculty need to list their employment by semester, not by year. For some, the first day they work for pay is the day they stepped into the classroom; for others, it may be the day they attended a paid presemester staff meeting. If you were not paid for attending a presemester meeting, do not list it as the first day of work. Similarly, when determining the last day of work, list the date of a final examination or the date you turned in grades. Precision in specifying dates helps to maximize the amount of time for which you are eligible for benefits.

Another critical point that may determine your eligibility for benefits is how you explain why you are no longer working. You should answer that you were laid off. If an interviewer asks why, explain that no work is available. Another defining question on the form is the return to work date. Answer that you have no such date “with reasonable assurance.” The truth is that the availability of work depends on many factors: enrollment, grant funding, and bumping, for example. Many contingents receive letters of assignment including language spelling out these eventualities, rendering the university not responsible for a lost class.

To the standard question about your willingness to work, answer that you are willing. Moreover, follow requirements about looking for work even though there may be no between-semester work available. Also be prepared to specify your  hourly and gross pay and to squeeze the many employers you may have had over the eighteen months into the allotted space.

Appeals

Winning any of the benefits legislated to help U.S. labor, including unemployment, takes effort, and many claims are initially denied. Claimants who are denied can appeal. If your claim is denied, read the instructions about appealing that the relevant agency provides. You will have to state the reasons for your appeal, and they must challenge the basis of the denial. Most of the denials relate to the “reasonable assurance” standard. Your appeal statement should not go beyond the scope of the denial. When a hearing is set, follow all of the steps required by the agency for presubmitting documents should any be requested. At the hearing, which may be held over the telephone, as is increasingly common, be prepared with supporting documents. You can invite an advocate, a union representative, or an attorney to help you with the hearing.

Although not all contingent faculty members who apply for unemployment benefits will achieve optimal results, the effort involved is still worthwhile. As the number of filers continues to grow, the pressure for permanent disbursement of benefits should increase, resulting in better economic conditions for countless contingent academics.

Beverly Stewart is a part-time English composition instructor at Roosevelt University in Chicago and a founding member of the Roosevelt Adjunct Faculty Association. Her e-mail address is bstewart1332@att.net.

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