Unemployment Benefits California: Do Part-Time Workers Qualify?

Unemployment benefits eligibility standards in California include being totally or partially unemployed, being unemployed through no fault of your own, being physically able to work, and having earned enough wages during the base period, among others.

Meanwhile, if you believe that you are misclassified as an independent contractor, individuals are encouraged to apply for benefits so officials can determine their eligibility.

When applying for unemployment benefits in California, applicants must first meet monetary standards.

You must have earned at least $1,300 in the highest quarter of your base period, which is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before the start date of the unemployment benefits.

Individuals must also have earned at least $900 in their highest quarter and total base period earnings of 1.25 times their high quarter earnings.

The Employment Development Department in California noted that if the information provided on your application shows you did not meet eligibility requirements, they will schedule a phone interview to determine if you qualify.

Unemployment Benefits California

An employee may file a claim for unemployment benefits in certain situations, such as if he or she loses their job in a company layoff. It was why the number of unemployment benefits in California increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Employees can also qualify for a partial unemployment benefit.

Unemployment benefits and partial unemployment benefits can pay a worker their normal wage had they not lost their job. However, it is not available for those who did quit or got fired.

To qualify, your regular wages, minus either 25% or $25, must be less than you would earn weekly in unemployment benefits.

Some states pay only a certain amount for a certain number of weeks and require beneficiaries to actively look for a job while they are receiving partial unemployment benefits.

In New York, beneficiaries should earn less than $504 per week to be eligible for partial unemployment and insurance benefits.

Unemployment in California

In 2021, California was determined to be the state that has the highest unemployment rate in the country, with 7.3%, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Several factors contributed to the matter, such as slow-to-rebound leisure and hospitality sectors.

The state of California has a huge leisure and hospitality industry, which was slow to get back compared to other sectors during the pandemic.

Leila Bengali, an economist at UCLA's Anderson School of Management, noted that California's leisure and hospitality sectors employed almost 18% fewer people.

In December 2022, California's unemployment rate was at 4.1%.

The same period marked the 15th consecutive month of nonfarm job gains, which is now at 807,300 jobs.

In December, 11 industry sectors in California also saw a stream of job gains, with the largest sector gain being in Education & Health Services.

There are also more than 7,500 jobs created in the construction industry.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Are unemployment benefits keeping Americans home? A look at US labor shortage - from PBS NewsHour