Who is considered a school employee? For UI purposes, a school employee is an individual who works or provides services for a public or private non-profit school employer. A school employee (unless stated otherwise) is also a school supportive employee. These are employees employed by a non-profit or public entity employer who provide services to, or on behalf of an educational institution.
School employee claims have distinctive eligibility requirements. For example, a school employee may not be eligible to receive benefits if all the following occur:
What is a recess period?
The Department defines a recess period as the period of time between terms, or within terms when classes are not usually scheduled. Examples of recess periods include summer vacation, off-track weeks and holiday recess such as Christmas or Spring breaks.
What is reasonable assurance?
Reasonable assurance is a written, verbal or implied agreement that the school employee will perform services for an educational institution during the next academic year, term or remainder of a term. The agreement must ensure the economic terms and conditions are substantially the same as those conditions in the previous school year or term.
The examples outlined below demonstrate the conditions that are unique to school employee claims.
EXAMPLE 1 – School and Non-School Wages in the Base Period:
The school employee worked for a school employer AND non-school employers during the base period (in this example wages earned from October 2001 through September 2002). The weekly benefit amount using both school and non-school wages is $370.
The school employee filed the claim during a recess period, and had reasonable assurance to return to work after the recess period ended. The Department notified the school employee that she was not eligible for benefits based on her wages with the school employer.
The non-school wages, however, were sufficient to establish a valid claim with a weekly benefit amount of $275. If all other eligibility requirements are met, the school employee is eligible to receive $275 per week during the recess period, based on her non-school employment.
|
Oct-Dec |
Jan-Mar |
Apr-Jun |
Jul-Sep |
Employer |
|
|
5869.59 |
ABC Company |
||
|
925.10 |
1284.91 |
745.23 |
Jones Temp Services |
|
|
|
847.24 |
379.81 |
Garcia Delivery Service |
|
|
6224.90 |
3522.63 |
102.20 |
Smith Temp Services |
|
|
3000.50 |
2400.01 |
2398.50 |
2500.78 |
School District |
Definitions of some terms used in Examples 2 and 3:
EXAMPLE 2 – Professional School Employee – Not Eligible for Retroactive Benefits:
The school employee is a teacher (professional school employee) and worked only for a school employer during the base period (in this example wages earned from October 2001 through September 2002).
The school employee filed the claim during a recess period, and had reasonable assurance to return to work after the recess period ended. The Department notified the school employee that she was not eligible for benefits.
Since the school employee’s claim is based entirely on school wages, and she is a professional employee, she is not eligible for benefits during the recess period.
|
Oct-Dec |
Jan-Mar |
Apr-Jun |
Jul-Sep |
Employer |
|
225.11 |
758.01 |
800.95 |
4825.32 |
School District |
|
4169.35 |
4028.52 |
1430.66 |
6384.72 |
School District |
EXAMPLE 3 – Non-Professional School Employee – Eligible for Retroactive Benefits:
The school employee is a custodian (non-professional school employee). She worked only for a school employer during the base period (in this example wages earned from October 2001 through September 2002). The weekly benefit amount is $297.
The school employee filed the claim during a recess period, and had reasonable assurance to return to work after the recess period ended. The Department notified the school employee that she was not eligible for benefits during the recess period. However, since she was a non-professional school employee, if she was not recalled after the recess period ended; she could request retroactive benefits.
To make sure she would be eligible for retroactive benefits if she was not called to work after the recess period ended, she continued to certify for benefits. She also met all eligibility requirements during the recess period.
The school employee was not recalled to work at the end of the recess period, so she contacted EDD within 30 days after the new school term began. She was eligible to receive retroactive benefits of $297 per week for each week that she certified for benefits.
|
Oct-Dec |
Jan-Mar |
Apr-Jun |
Jul-Sep |
Employer |
|
7722.00 |
6000.25 |
5168.32 |
4679.24 |
School District |
For more information on school employee claims review the School Employees Claims section of our frequently asked questions.