Unemployment Info

Part-Time Faculty Unemployment

What you need to know: California community college part-time faculty are eligible for unemployment benefits in between semesters after teaching assignments and during summer.

When to apply: Apply as soon as your teaching assignment has ended, as you will receive benefits only from the date that you apply. It can take up to 10 days to process claims.

Where to apply: By phone: 1-800-300-5616

Online: http://www.edd.ca.gov/Unemployment/


What you need to apply:

  • Your last employer information (regardless of the length of time you worked for the employer) including name, address (mailing and physical location) and telephone number (including area code)
  • Your last date worked and the reason you are no longer working
  • Your gross earnings in the last week you worked, beginning with Sunday 
and ending with your last day of work
  •  Information on all employers during the past 18 months, including name, 
address (mailing and physical location), period of employment, gross 
wages earned, hours worked per week, and hourly rate of pay
  • Your driver’s license or ID card number, if you have either
  • Your citizenship status (which may include your alien registration number)

All part-time faculty should remember that you are eligible for unemployment compensation benefits during the winter break and over the summer, unless you are working another job between semesters or over the summer and you are earning more than your unemployment grant would be. As soon as you give your last final exam, you should contact the local Employment Development Department (EDD) office and file a claim, or reactivate the one you have from summer (if you applied then). If it is a new claim, you will have a one-week waiting period before benefits start, so do not delay. You can also claim for the period between regular term and summer school. When filling out your weekly forms, don’t forget to claim paid flex days.

When applying, tell them about all your jobs, since your benefit is based on all your income over the previous year. When they ask if you have a job to go back to after summer or winter break, answer, “Not with reasonable assurance. I only have a tentative assignment contingent on enrollment, funding, and program needs.”  This is important: Do not just tell them that you have an assignment for next semester or you will be disqualified. According to the Cervisi decision of the State Court of Appeals (and the Ed. Code), part-timers, as a class, do not have “reasonable assurance” of a job and hence are eligible for benefits between terms. If questioned further, mention the Cervisi case.


For more help

Be sure to fill out all job search forms correctly, and be available as directed for interviews and follow-up questions. You should not have any problems, but if you have any questions or are denied for any reason, contact Chet Lexvold, AFT 1493 Executive Secretary, in the AFT office (lexvold@aft1493.org) as soon as possible and the union will advise you on how to file an appeal. Don’t be reluctant to file. This is your right, not charity!

A trustworthy step-by-step set of guides for filing or re-opening your unemployment claim, written specifically for California adjunct faculty members, is available at the Contingent World Unemployment Filing Guides.