School Employees
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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:
- A claim is filed during a recess period.
- Only school wages are in the base period of the claim.
- There is an offer to return to work for a school employer when the
recess period ends.
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.
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.
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.
