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Edit: Please sign petition re NY unemployment 3 day law!
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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 30 2020, 12:12 pm
Editing to put the petition link on top: https://www.change.org/COVIDunemployment

Sorry, yes, another thread about unemployment but this one is on a different tack.

NY unemployment has this inane rule that you lose 25% for every day that you work EVEN IF YOU ONLY WORKED LESS THAN AN HOUR on that day.

If you work more than 3 days then you get nothing. If you work one hour each on three days, then you get 25% of what you're entitled to. And you can't choose to not work because of this, because first of all you could lose whatever scrap of job and clients you have, and secondly the law is that if you can work then you have to, which ethically I'm completely on board with. I WANT to work as much as I can, but I also want to get unemployment benefits for the time that I CAN'T.

This rule makes no sense and it's not fair. It results in people like me taking a HUGE loss of income. My job goes in individual sessions with individual clients. As a direct result of COVID, I have had zillions of cancellations resulting in lost work time. However, my individual sessions need to spread over a week. So if, for example, I normally have five students for a total of 25 hours a week and now I have one student, I'm making a fraction of what I usually make but I'm working one hour each day so I qualify for NOTHING because you have to report ANY amount of work on any day.

Now let's say I had no scruples and would tell them I worked 5 hours on one day instead of one hour on 5 days... I can't do that because my work is contracted with the DOE and logged daily according to the child's IEP. So personally I'm not a fan of lying but even if someone were it would be too easy to get caught.

The rules are the rules. You can't get around them. So we need to change them. Who do we talk to? How do we make change happen? This policy is obscene.


Last edited by seeker on Fri, May 01 2020, 1:14 pm; edited 2 times in total
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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 30 2020, 9:46 pm
OK, trying change.org. Please sign and share! http://chng.it/q9Kn8dr2VD
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notshanarishona




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, May 01 2020, 12:55 am
Why not just decline the job because of lack of child care ? Then you should still qualify
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TwinsMommy




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, May 01 2020, 6:51 am
Because she is committed to her students.
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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, May 01 2020, 8:06 am
Exactly. Some of my kids are unable to get services now but I'm not going to dump the ones who are. I have NO judgment of the people who did have to quit, but my daughters are a little older now and not so demanding that I can't put in any work.
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bk




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, May 01 2020, 9:39 am
I agree, this law is terrible at a time like this. I am losing out a lot too Sad
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bsy




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, May 01 2020, 12:05 pm
seeker wrote:
Exactly. Some of my kids are unable to get services now but I'm not going to dump the ones who are. I have NO judgment of the people who did have to quit, but my daughters are a little older now and not so demanding that I can't put in any work.

Can you work and not bill and claim unemployment instead?
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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, May 01 2020, 12:15 pm
bsy wrote:
Can you work and not bill and claim unemployment instead?

No, for a couple of reasons:
1. The services I provide are legal mandates (IEPs) and need to be documented.

2. It would be dishonest because in order to certify for unemployment you need to declare that you are unable to work.

However what if you are able to work 2 hours a day and unable to work more than that? Either you're poor or you feel forced to lie. If someone goes the route of claiming they can't work when they really can, then they are getting more tax dollars than they need to and their clients are missing out on services. Plus they're making honest people feel like fools sweating over their work and getting paid less than people who quit. Not sure how long my altruism can hold out.
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amother
Natural


 

Post Fri, May 01 2020, 12:33 pm
seeker wrote:
No, for a couple of reasons:
1. The services I provide are legal mandates (IEPs) and need to be documented.

2. It would be dishonest because in order to certify for unemployment you need to declare that you are unable to work.

However what if you are able to work 2 hours a day and unable to work more than that? Either you're poor or you feel forced to lie. If someone goes the route of claiming they can't work when they really can, then they are getting more tax dollars than they need to and their clients are missing out on services. Plus they're making honest people feel like fools sweating over their work and getting paid less than people who quit. Not sure how long my altruism can hold out.


I feel for you and look up to you for the fact that your still working. I'm a seit to and would love to work with my students. I miss them so much.
However I have 5 small kids and would only be able to work 1-2 hrs a day while the baby naps and I find something to occupy the older ones.I have 4 students and would consider working 20/30 min with each one every day ( even though they have much longer mandates - two have 2 hrs a day - something is still better then nothing). But I literally can't afford to do it. I need that extra few hundred I'm making a week from the unemployment + 600. I feel so bad though for my students 😔 who could really use the extra help. But what am I supposed to do? We need to eat....I'm trying to help finding subs to work with them, but am finding that impossibly hard bec lots of people aren't working now and in any case it's not the same as us working together as I know them already and etc...
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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, May 01 2020, 12:47 pm
If you have 5 small kids then no wonder you can't do it! But if not for this stupid rule you would probably have an easier time finding a sub.
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amother
Natural


 

Post Fri, May 01 2020, 1:04 pm
seeker wrote:
If you have 5 small kids then no wonder you can't do it! But if not for this stupid rule you would probably have an easier time finding a sub.


I know your right, and I shouldn't feel guilty, it's just so hard for me to know that my students (2 in particular) who I worked so hard with this year are likely just losing everything now 😔. It would prob be doable (even if hard) for me to work 1/2 hr a day with the two of them (an hr all together) -just to keep them up to where we where - my baby naps and I can allow my kids an hr of screen time.... but I just can't afford to work. And like you said - there are lots of others with this problem so I'm not likely to end up finding anyone else who can do it either.
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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, May 01 2020, 1:11 pm
Probably doesn't make you feel better but they'd likely be losing ground even if you were working remotely with them... I'm sorry, this situation stinks in many ways. Hopefully even if there's some regression they are not losing *everything* and your work was not for nothing...

But anyway you are proving the point that the hour = day rule is doing a disservice to EVERYONE - both those who provide services and those who receive them. As well as the taxpayers who are now supporting people who could be partially earning but have to choose all or nothing.

The revised rules for COVID explicitly stated that they are to increase access for part-time workers and independent contractors like us, but the system contradicts that.
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Hashem_Yaazor




 
 
    
 

Post Sat, May 02 2020, 8:30 pm
Have you contacted Agudah? There should be a way for you to claim partial unemployment due to covid19 even if the system isn't set up properly...
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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Sat, May 02 2020, 8:56 pm
Who would I contact at Agudah?

They really won't be able to help individuals qualify because this is literally the law. But maybe they can help advocate to change the rule.
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amother
Slateblue


 

Post Sat, May 02 2020, 9:08 pm
You have one client? Can you just tell the mom you're not working but would be happy to volunteer your services during this time? Them you are still eligible no?
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Hashem_Yaazor




 
 
    
 

Post Sat, May 02 2020, 9:28 pm
seeker wrote:
Who would I contact at Agudah?

They really won't be able to help individuals qualify because this is literally the law. But maybe they can help advocate to change the rule.

Even the federal PUA? I'm pretty sure not.
It can't just be you.
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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Sat, May 02 2020, 9:36 pm
amother [ Slateblue ] wrote:
You have one client? Can you just tell the mom you're not working but would be happy to volunteer your services during this time? Them you are still eligible no?

I feel like I'm repeating myself a lot.
1. This is not about me. There are at minimum HUNDREDS of people running into this obstacle. I am not interested in reviewing my personal caseload, schedule, and bookkeeping with you.
2. You are legally required to take any work that is available to you before taking unemployment. You can't just decide to volunteer your services and let the government and taxpayers pay you.
3. If your job is in any official capacity, such as hundreds of SEITs and therapists I know, then it has to be all above-board.
4. Believe me, I spent about a month trying to figure out how to work within the current setup before determining that petitioning for the rule to be changed is the only way.
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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Sat, May 02 2020, 9:44 pm
Hashem_Yaazor wrote:
Even the federal PUA? I'm pretty sure not.
It can't just be you.

It's complicated but it seems that they are applying the same rules to both.
PUA allows part-time/self-employed/gig workers to apply, removes the requirement to be actively looking for work if it's because of COVID (e.g. caring for kids at home, you have a job but can't do it remotely), and adds an extra $600 plus more weeks of benefits. However, NY is applying the same rules across the board - you can get unemployment if you're a part time worker and if you're home because of covid etc, but they still take off 25% for every day that you work and still require you to report 20 minutes of work as if it's a day. And if you report those 20 minutes on 4 days, then you get 0 unemployment, and hence no extra $600 from the feds because the $600 is only added to unemployment benefits if you're getting any.

TL;DR: NY is a hot mess.
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Hashem_Yaazor




 
 
    
 

Post Sat, May 02 2020, 9:49 pm
Definitely other states have PUA available if you don't qualify for regular unemployment.
NY is only giving it to those who qualify for regular? As you said, it's not just you. It's totally something the Agudah would be interested in helping with I think but I don't know NY Agudah people.
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amother
Cyan


 

Post Sat, May 02 2020, 9:53 pm
I have the same problem. I'm losing a ton of income because I can't put in the hours, but I can't quit my job. So I end up working a few measly hours spread out over the whole week because that's how my job works, and I make over the income limit of $504/week, but not by much. I'm stressed out trying to get my work in all over the day, and I can't give my full attention to my kids. Especially is this situation continues over the summer and there's no day camp, it will be very hard for all of us. I don't know what to do. Sad
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