The present COVID-19 pandemic has led to a historically unparalleled increase in the level of unemployment insurance (UI) claims filed in California since the crisis started in mid-March. Employees that have been laid off from their job due to the COVID-19 pandemic, or that are unable to work due to childcare or school closures, or that have had their hours or wages reduced by a fraction continues to apply for the unemployment insurance benefits in order to maintain basic necessities while they are temporarily unemployed.

This article will look into how unemployment insurance works, insurance benefits, employees that may be eligible for the unemployment insurance benefits and those that are not, the requirements that must be met, as well as the various federal intervention programs aimed to suppress the effect of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic on affected Californians.

NOTE: As you know that things are changing rapidly, the various relief benefits and explanations described in this article are subject to change.  Therefore, this article is simply our best perception as to where things currently stand as of June 10, 2020.

HOW THE UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE (UI) WORKS

The unemployment insurance system usually provides about 26 weeks of regular insurance benefits to unemployed workers while they actively look for a new job. The program is funded by payroll taxes paid by California employers on the amount of wages they pay to their employees. No tax deductions are made from employees’ wages in California to finance this program.

The tax rate an employer pays is different and influenced by the number of prior unemployment benefit claims that have been filed against the employer. The more claims that are filed against an employer, the higher the tax rate is for that employer. It is therefore important that employers understand the UI system and carefully consider how its benefits affect their employees before they reduce hours, furlough, or layoff.

THE CALIFORNIA INSURANCE BENEFITS

While the State provides most of the funding to employees based on the employment taxes collected from California employers, the federal government pays part of the administrative costs for the unemployment insurance program. If an employees’ claim is approved, the amount that the employee can collect per week in insurance benefit ranges between $40 and $450, and it is dependent on their previous earnings.

CALIFORNIA UNEMPLOYMENT AND THE EMPLOYMENT DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT (“EDD”)

California’s Unemployment and the Employment Development Department (EDD) process unemployment claims and determine employee eligibility. The department has, in the past few weeks recorded over 1.8 million unemployment claims filed, about the same amount as all unemployment claims from the 2008 recession. For employees to be eligible for the regular California UI benefits, the EDD generally requires that the applicant must be:

• ready, willing and able to work
• unemployed without fault; and that their
• past earnings must meet certain minimum thresholds;

 If approved, the Unemployment and the Employment Development Department determines the amount for the weekly benefit based on the applicants’ past earnings, up to a maximum of $450 each week. However, these benefits can be extended by an additional 13 weeks under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.

What Is The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, And Economic Security (CARES) Act?

The Federal CARES Act was signed to law on March 27, 2020, by congress, as a protective measure to provide essential relief to more Californians that are impacted by COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. It offers emergency aid to eligible businesses, individuals, and families affected by the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. The CARES Act, among other provisions, temporarily expands the regular California UI benefits by creating several new programs. These programs include:

a)      Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)

The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program is an extended eligibility for some employees who traditionally are ineligible for the regular California Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefit, and are unemployed or partially unemployed due to COVID-19 reasons. These include:

• Business owners, Independent contractors, and self-employed employees
• Individuals with a limited work history
• Individuals with false statement penalty weeks on their regular UI claim.
• Individuals who have exhausted all of their regular UI benefits as well as any extended benefits.

Eligibility For PUA Benefits

To be eligible for PUA benefits, applicants must either be unemployed, partially unemployed, or unable to work for reasons related to COVID-19, like when:

• The applicant is diagnosed with COVID-19 disease or have its symptoms
• The applicant provides care for their family member diagnosed with COVID-19 disease
• The applicant has a family member who is diagnosed with COVID-19 and has to isolate
• The applicant is unable to get to their workplace due to a forced quarantine, or because the applicant is advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to COVID-19
• The applicant is the major caregiver for a child(ren) whose care facility or school is closed because of COVID-19
• The applicant becomes the primary breadwinner because the head of the household died from COVID-19 coronavirus infection
• The applicant was scheduled to start a new job but cannot get to the workplace because of COVID-19
• The applicant had their workplace closed due to COVID-19 pandemic
• The applicant quits their job due to COVID-19
• Meet any additional criteria specified by California EDD.

These applicants may, however, receive below the 39 weeks of PUA benefits if:

• Their unemployment or partial unemployment is no longer due to COVID-19.
• The PUA program is no longer available for weeks of unemployment following December 31, 2020.

Exemptions To The PUA Benefits

Applicants that can work from home or on leave and being paid or receiving other paid leave stimulus are not eligible for the PUA benefits, whether or not they meet a category listed above.

b)     Pandemic Unemployment Emergency Compensation

Applicants generally collect up to 26 weeks under the regular California UI benefits within a 12-month benefit year. But the Pandemic Unemployment Emergency Compensation (PUEC) offers an extra 13 weeks of insurance benefits to the regular 26 weeks already provided to make a total of 39 weeks coverage. The extended relief is available up till December 31, 2020.

To qualify for a PEUC extension and claim, the applicant must:

• Be fully unemployed or partially unemployed as of March 29, 2020, or after.
• Have used up all the benefits they are due under the California law.
• Not qualify for a regular California UI claim.
• Meet all requirements to be eligible for California UI benefits.

c)      Pandemic Unemployment Compensation

Under the PUC provision, employees that qualify for UI benefits will receive an additional $600 benefit every week on top of the regular benefit they are entitled to receive under the California State law. This is approved for all weeks of unemployment starting from weeks available for benefits until July 25, 2020.

Given this federal benefit under CARES Act, a California employee that earns below $54,000 per year, may be eligible for pay weekly via unemployment insurance benefits than if they work reduced hours. Regardless of what their regular benefit is, from April 1 up to December 31, 2020, such an employee:

• may qualify for an extra 13 weeks of benefits according to the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation. This means the period of benefit is increased from 26 weeks to 39 weeks;
• can receive an additional $600 every week according to the Pandemic Additional Compensation, although it is only available until July 31, 2020.

APPLYING FOR THE CALIFORNIA INSURANCE BENEFITS

To receive insurance benefits in California during this COVID-19 pandemic, the employee needs to file a claim with the unemployment insurance program in person, online or by telephone. The fastest and easiest way to apply is online. The employee needs to take the following steps:

• Contact EDD as soon as possible after becoming unemployed.
• The employee will be asked for certain information, such as Social Security Number, mailing address, county of residence, addresses, and if available, their Driver’s License or state-issued ID number.
• Employees will also be asked about the dates and details of their former employer when filing a claim. To ensure your claim is not delayed, make sure you provide correct and complete information.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. Is there any reduction in UI claims as Californians begin to resume work?

As of June 11, 2020, the proportion of California UI claimants, either not getting their initial benefit payment because their incomes were very high or are receiving partial unemployment insurance benefits increases. While only employees earning less than three-quarters of their previous weekly wages are eligible for partial UI benefits, employees that are earning above that are entirely denied the benefits for that week, resulting in a complicated decision for employees in a doubtful labor market.

2. Can California employees who lost their job and their private insurance find some sort of coverage through the State?

According to a statement made by Peter lee, every California employee is eligible for financial support through the State, except if the employee is an undocumented immigrant.

3. Can California employees collect Employment Insurance (EI) if they self-isolate?

California employees can collect employment insurance if they have to take time off work due to quarantine or self-isolation. They may also be eligible for employment insurance if they are unable to work due to illness caused by the coronavirus.

4. Can an employee apply for disability insurance if they are at home with COVID-19?

An employee that is at home because they need to take care of a family member who has contracted COVID-19 coronavirus can apply for California Paid Family Leave, but it requires medical certification. PFL assistance is presently not a feasible option in other cases. For example, the employee does not currently qualify for PFL if they have to stay home with their kids because the schools are closed.

5. Can Employees Receive Unemployment Insurance Benefits For Reduced Hours? 

If the employer shuts down their operations or reduces their employees’ work hours due to COVID-19, the employees can file a UI claim. The unemployment insurance system under California law exclusively provides partial wage replacement stimulus to employees who have their hours reduced or were laid off without their fault.  Even if an employee is still working part-time, the employee may still be eligible for insurance benefits depending on their earnings and other circumstances. They may even qualify for more money per week if they are furloughed than if they work reduced hours.

6. When should employees affected by COVID-19 apply for insurance benefits?

Employees that are affected by COVID-19 should apply for insurance benefits the moment they realize that their employment contract and income will be impacted by COVID-19. If the employer demanded that an employee should stay home and was not offered any compensation, the employee might be eligible for insurance benefits provided they meet the financial and weekly eligibility conditions.

7. When will I get the additional $600 benefit?

The additional $600 federal insurance stimulus is available for all approved claims, and retroactive payments will be made for the weeks starting March 29 to July 25, 2020. The Unemployment and the Employment Development Department is currently paying the additional fund, and you don’t have to submit any further paperwork to qualify. The EDD will automatically add the fund on top of each week of benefits you are eligible to receive.

8. Do I Have To File A Claim Every Week?

To maintain insurance benefits, applicants are required to file a claim every week. The week starts on Sundays and ends on Saturday. Once an initial claim has been filed, the applicants will have to wait until the following week to submit another weekly claim. Applicants should understand that the weekly claims must be filed albeit their initial claim is still pending.

9. Do I Qualify For The Unemployment Insurance Benefits As A Freelancer?

The PUA program created by the CARES Act covers individuals that are ineligible for the California unemployment insurance benefits or have exhausted their benefits. These include contract workers, self-employed, etc. This program is particularly important for individuals that work in the gig economy, who work largely as freelancers and independent contractors.

FINAL THOUGHT

If you need help filing for the appropriate insurance benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic or you want to make inquiries, the team of attorneys at United Employees Law Group is always at your service. We understand your request is unique and will personalize our service to suit your insurance benefits needs. To schedule an appointment, do not hesitate to contact us through our contact form below.

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Most employees are incredibly grateful for their job and the ability to pay their bills on time. But, when it comes to California employee benefits are you sure that you are being treated fairly?

If you aren’t sure, you should continue reading the article below where we will be talking about the different employee benefits that you should be concerned you are getting.

Getting Minimum Wage

This is always a tricky topic because most people just assume that wherever they work they are entitled to a specific dollar amount for minimum wage. This is true.

But, did you also know that if your particular state, in this case, California, also has its own minimum wage laws, that as an employee you are entitled to whichever is the higher wage?

In the state of California, right now in 2019, the minimum wage is:

• For less than 25 employees $11.00
• For more than 26 employees $12.00

The Federal Minimum Wage is only $7.25 So if you are not receiving one of the aforementioned wages, but are instead receiving Federal Wages, this is something you need to look into as soon as possible because you aren’t receiving the wages you should be!

There are, of course, exceptions. Usually, these exceptions are for people that earn tips and earn more than $30 worth of tips in a single month. Instead of being paid a state or federal wage, they are paid a lower wage and can keep their tips.

Overtime Hours At Your Job

According to the California employee benefits, there are no limits in terms of hours a person can work each week. However, because 40 hours is the set standard of work hours in a week, any time worked over 40 hours will require overtime.

Overtime at your job will be defined as being at least 1.5 times what you usually make per hour at your job.

Also, if you work on the weekends or on holidays, the law states that you are not required to receive overtime unless you worked more than 40 hours in that same week.

Leave Time

The California employee benefits laws state that you are allowed to have leave time from your job.

In all, employees are eligible and able to take up to 12 weeks off per year – unpaid thanks to the FMLA. To top it all off, the FMLA also requires that employees be given an extra 26 weeks off to take care of a spouse, child or even a parent if they have had a serious injury or ailment or if they are a serviceman or servicewoman in the military.

There are stipulations to this.

• The employer must have at least 50 employees
• You have worked at your job for 12 months
• You have worked at least 1,250 hours at your job

California has its own sets of laws too which include:

• Caring for a sick loved one
• Recovering from childbirth
• Disability leave
• Bereavement leave

The state of California has some of the most generous leave time laws in the entire country. While the 4 examples mentioned above are pretty extreme, you can also have leave time for other situations such as needing time off to attend a child’s school activity.

There may be more stipulations depending on if your job belongs to a union or not.

Most employers will take it upon themselves to create their own employment terms, and although they do have to follow specific laws such as the ones above, the real point to all of this is to create proper humane working conditions while still allowing the employee to earn a wage that they can live off of.

If you think you’ve been discriminated against, or you think your employer is breaking one of the laws or regulations above, it’s a good idea to speak to a lawyer about your legal rights and California employee benefits.

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Obama has enacted more executive actions in his presidency that come under fire. While the executive order has been exercised by every president since George Washington, in fact William Henry Harrison was the ONLY president never to use the mechanism for presidential action.  The reason President Obama’s executive orders seem to be so questionable is somewhat simple. The president is not a dictator and as we live in a democracy and are given the right to vote it would stand to reason that if the country votes AGAINST something the president should not be able to turn around and say “Too bad, I’m doing it anyway.”

…and so the debate rages on as to whether or not the executive amnesty program for illegal workers is legal or not. The administration has already issued over a hundred thousand permits while a moratorium has been placed on the funding for the action. The future of the permits is unclear, but it does not change the protections all workers in California are given. Whether or not you have a permit, were born here or are completely undocumented, if you are employed your employer must uphold certain standards of safety, treatment and compensation.

The laws protecting the rights of workers in California extend to ALL who are employed; some of these rights include safe working conditions and minimum wage. In addition to these protections are the statutes which clearly state you cannot be threatened with reporting or deportation just to force you to work for less or in sub-standard conditions.

If you have been unfairly treated by an employer, regardless of your immigration status, you have protections under California Labor Law and UELG can help. We have helped countless others collect what’s owed and we may be able to help you too. Call today, it’s completely free and confidential.

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Steps Employees Should Take When Expecting a Layoff

Washington may be selling the idea that we are in a new economy, but there are several companies still trying to recover from the bad economic condition of the country. As a result, the unemployment scenario in California has not subsided even a bit. In fact, the rate of unemployment in California presently is 12%, and the chances of hiring are also considerably low, as around 63% of the small businesses have closed their hiring process for some time to come.

If you are an employee with one of these companies and are expecting to get laid off, you must consider doing the following things:
#1: Secure all letters of reference, performance evaluations and letters of commendation that have a mention of the landmark projects that you have done for the company. It’s also great to have a count of expense reductions that you may have got for your company and the goals that you may have achieved in terms of revenue generated. Have your back-up data ready!

#2: Keeping this data handy can be of great help to you. First, because you will be reminded of your achievements and you will realize your true value. Second, because asking your manager to provide this information will also remind them of your contribution to the team and company. Lastly, you can furnish this information to the interview board for lay-off and can actually avoid that situation from arising. If you come to know that the company is laying off people and your name is a part of that list, try to contact management and talk to them about any negotiations that may be possible.

#3: Your company may choose to give you severance pay, in which case the company shall ask you to sign a release. If you sign these papers, you will not be able to make several kinds of labor law claims on the company. Before signing any release papers, you must first show it to a knowledgeable California labor law attorney. Moreover, all of these release papers say that you, as one of the parties, have the right to get the papers reviewed by an attorney.

See even more ways to protect yourself from tricks employers use to get you to quit HERE.

The labor laws in California are rather complex, and before you sign the release papers, it is important for you to understand all your rights. The attorneys of United Employees Law Group can help and you don’t pay unless we win your case. It is also important for you to realize that in getting you to sign the release papers, your employer is not doing you a favor. In fact, you are doing a favor to your employer by signing those papers as you are the one who is at the risk of losing a good amount of money.

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The Department of Labor thinks this is a great question, one to which everyone should know the answer. The DOL released its agenda for proposed rules over the 2012-2013 fiscal year in hopes of offering guidance to ERISA-governed contribution plans, on how to disclose information to participants as well as requiring them to give income projections to the participants. Here is what they said:

Individual account plans that permit participant direction must provide the pension benefit statement quarterly, and individual account plans that do not permit participant direction must provide the statement annually. As part of this initiative, the Department will explore whether, and how, an individual benefit statement should and could present a participant’s accrued benefits in a defined contribution plan (i.e., the individual’s account balance) as a lifetime income stream of payments in addition to presenting the benefits as an account balance.

The idea is to change the focus of 401(k) and 403(b) to be viewed as accounts used as retirement income. This change in perspective could be a noteworthy shift allowing people to better plan for retirement, and this may even lead to more funds for a retirees. Hopefully we will see a more secure retirement group come out of this change.

Here is a useful tool you can start using now to help you plan for your retirement:

Retirement Saving Calculator

The bottom line is, any issue involving employment law can get tricky fast. Have the right team on your side.

Call United Employees Law Group TODAY.

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The Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 has expanded the realm of the definition of disability. As a result, employers have been receiving a much higher number for requests by employees asking for accommodation as per the ADA guideline. A majority of the requests made under ADA is absent leaves and alteration in the schedule of the assigned work. In addition, the Equal Opportunity Commission and several courts all across the country have recognized unpaid leaves as an allowed accommodation under the ADA Act.

Employers use several methodologies for accommodating the requests of employees under ADA. For instance, accommodations like vacation leave and sick leave can be provided by the employer. Besides, the employee is also entitled to paid-time-off benefits. The Family and Leave Act can also be used by the employee for availing unpaid leaves and paid-time-off benefits. In addition, they can also use facilities like receiving payments as part of the workers’ compensation benefits plan and the disability employers’ benefit plan simultaneously. Leaves can also be provided to the employee under the norms of the company policy. All of these available options with the employer are seen as viable options under the ADA.
It is often mistaken by employers that their responsibility exhausts as these options exhaust, and they are not obligated towards the employees beyond this point in time. However, this belief faced a stern challenge from the EEOC recently, and the employees were paid huge amounts against this claim. One such case is the one where a retailer agreed to settle the case for a price as high as $6.2 million. This decision by the EEOC came against the company’s policy that terminated all employees who had been absent from work for a period of more than one year on reasons like disability. The workers were given huge claim amounts to settle the matter.
Another case to exhibit a similar result was when the EEOC settled a case against one of the famous communications company for a staggering amount of $20 million. The company had made the mistake of holding the employees with disabilities responsible for being absent from work. It was because of their excessive absences that the employees were terminated and asked to leave the company. This violated the ADA guidelines, which became the base for the EEOC ruling.
A famous grocery store had a company policy that stated that the employees were eligible for only a fixed period of medical leave and any leave taken beyond that time shall lead to termination of the employees contact. This was seen as a major violation of the ADA guidelines, and the EEOC settled the case for an amount of $3.2 million. In another case, the EEOC settled the case against an airline company that disallowed the shortening of work schedules for the employees. The company policy was such that the employees had to take an absence from work leave.
The bottom line is that irrespective of the company involved, you, as an employee, have the right to avail accommodations on account of your disability. If you have been asked to give your resignation because of reasons that a may be similar to these, you must immediately contact the labor law attorneys at United Employees Law Group for professional help.

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California Labor laws do not require that companies offer paid sick time, vacation pay or PTO, nor does it require holiday pay. But if an employer does choose to offer these benefits, California labor laws do govern how these benefits will be handled.

Sick Time

Sick time can be accrued at your regular hourly rate of pay. If you are paid a salary, simply take your annual salary and divide it by 52 weeks then divide that by 40 hours . The most important thing to remember about sick time is that it can expire and it does not have to be cashed out to you if you do not use it.

Vacation Time

While paid vacation is not required to be given to employees, California labor law does require that it be paid at the regular hourly rate of pay if the company chooses to offer it. Vacation time cannot expire and cannot be taken away from the employees once accrued. If your company tells you that you must use it or lose it, it is likely that your employer is not following California labor law. Your employer is not required to approve your requests for time off but they must cash out the value of your vacation time to you whenever you choose.

PTO

PTO stands for Paid Time Off. Some employers lump both vacation time and sick pay in to one category. If the employer chooses to do this they must treat this time similarly to vacation time. In other words, you cannot lose PTO. It must be used or cashed out, it cannot disappear.

Holiday Pay

Can be paid at ones regular rate of pay for a holiday in which the employee does not come to work, or an employer may choose to pay the employee at a higher rate if the employee works on a holiday. Keep in mind, the employer has full discretion over this. If you are paid for a day in which you do not come to work it will not count toward your 40 hours of regular pay and it will not affect how your overtime rates are paid to you.

Labor law is complex; if you have any questions regarding your employment it is recommended that you contact a California labor law attorney who can help you understand your rights and in many cases will review your situation without charge.

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Have you ever had a family emergency and had difficulty getting time off work? Well, new legislation could expand the circumstances under which you are entitled to leave from work. February 19, 2010 is the deadline for state legislators to introduce new bills for the year. Because of the state’s dire economic state, the Senate President pro tem Darrell Steinberg  has limited the number of bills that each Senator may introduce. Nonetheless, there are several bills that will be proposed in favor of California workers.

Assembly member Swanson  plans to propose AB 1666 and AB 1667,  which would expand leave under the California Family Rights Act. AB 1666 pertains to sick leave for employees. Under existing law, employees who have had worked for at least one year are entitled to take up to 12 workweeks for family care and medical leave. “Family care and medical leave” is defined as leave for the birth of a child or a serious health condition of the employee or the employee’s child, parent, or spouse. This bill would expand the definition to include any illness that has been declared a national or state pandemic.  AB 1667 would further expand the circumstances for leave to include the serious health condition of a sibling.

The other piece of important legislation is the bereavement leave bill to be sponsored by the California Employment Lawyers Association.  Back in 2007, the California legislature had considered SB 549,  which would have allowed employees to take bereavement leave upon the death of a family member, but the bill was vetoed by the governor. Current California law does not provide leave for employees to grieve, make funeral arrangements, or attend funeral services. Employees who leave work for these reasons are subject to termination without legal recourse. This bill would grant employees up to 4 days of unpaid time off upon the death of a family member without reprisal or discharge.

If you need to take leave from work, whether it is due to illness, the birth of a baby, or the death of a family member, there are some ways to make the transition easier for both you and your employer.

Strategy:

1. Ask yourself if a leave of absence is absolutely necessary. You may want to consider options such as taking vacation time, sick days, or reducing your hours.

2. If you are leaving for an extended period of time, take time to consider your budget including everyday expenses and medical bills, if any.

3. Check to see if you qualify for workers compensation, employment insurance, disability benefits, or any other benefits, and make your claim as soon as possible.

4. Notify your boss of your situation and try to make arrangements with your co-workers to cover your duties while you are gone.

5. When you can return, be sure to consider your duties and ability. You may want to ask your employer for reduced hours or more flexible hours.

If you have been terminated or discriminated against due to taking a leave of absence you should seek the counsel of an experienced California Employment Attorney.  Most labor lawyers  are able to give free consultations so there is no harm in seeking help.

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