ESD question: Reporting summer pay from expired 85-day teaching contract - not severance

This is considered deferred compensation, which means it's payment for work you've already completed, just paid out over time. When you file your weekly claim, you should report it as "wages" for the weeks you receive payments. Since it's over the maximum weekly benefit amount, you'll likely be disqualified for benefits during those weeks, but you should still file your weekly claims to keep your claim active. Once the payments stop, you'll start receiving benefits if you're still unemployed and looking for work.

omg i had a similar situation last year but with a 60 day contract!! the esd website is so confusing bc ur right they dont have a option for our situation. i ended up calling them and waiting FOREVER but they told me to report it as wages for the weeks i get paid not when i did the work. good luck!!

The key here is that you need to understand how ESD defines your employment status. For educators, they have specific rules about reasonable assurance. Since your position was eliminated and you have no contract for the upcoming school year, you lack reasonable assurance of continued employment. However, your summer pay is still considered earned income from work already performed. Report it as wages in the weeks you receive payment. ESD's system will automatically determine if your reported wages exceed your weekly benefit amount. Keep filing every week even during weeks you receive full pay. This maintains your claim as active and ensures you'll seamlessly transition to receiving benefits once your summer pay ends. Make sure to complete your job search activities each week too (3 per week), even during weeks you won't receive benefits due to your summer pay.

You should just call ESD directly and ask them. I waited on hold for 3 hours last time I tried though, so good luck with that lol

THE SYSTEM IS RIGGED AGAINST TEACHERS!! I got denied benefits last summer even though I had no job lined up for fall. They said since I worked in education I couldn't get summer benefits. MAKE SURE you specify your contract ended and position was ELIMINATED. Don't let them classify you as on summer break!!!!!

Wait I'm confused about the teaching contract thing...are you saying you were a sub that got a temp contract? Or regular teacher whose position got cut? That probably matters for how ESD looks at your case.

One more thing to add - when you file your initial claim, make sure to answer "No" to the question about having reasonable assurance of returning to work after a school break. If you answer "Yes" to that, the system will automatically deny your claim. You should also be prepared to provide documentation showing your position was eliminated if they request it during adjudication.

Wait until they ask for it. The system doesn't always provide a place to upload supporting documents during initial filing. If your claim goes into adjudication (which many educator claims do), that's when you'll need to provide the documentation. Also, on your weekly claims during summer, report your work search activities accurately. Since you're a certified teacher, applying for teaching positions counts as job search activities. Each application, interview, or contact with a district HR department counts as a separate activity.

My wife was in almost the exact situation last year! Here's what happened: she reported her summer paychecks as wages on her weekly claims, got $0 for those weeks, but once the payments stopped in August she started getting her full unemployment benefit. The key was proving she had no reasonable assurance of a job in the fall. She had to send in an email from her principal saying her position was eliminated. Just be prepared for your claim to go into adjudication for a while when you first apply.

She had to call once because her claim was in adjudication for almost 3 weeks with no update. The agent was actually really helpful and pushed it through after verifying her documentation. Definitely call if you don't see movement after 2-3 weeks!

Thanks everyone for all the helpful advice! I'm going to file my initial claim, report my summer payments as wages, answer NO to reasonable assurance, and keep doing my job searches every week. I'll update here if I run into any issues or if I learn anything that might help others in similar situations.