ESD standby eligibility after 7 weeks with union employer + timing questions

Good news! For question 1, your husband should be fine since he already has an open claim. The 680 hours requirement is for establishing a new claim, not continuing an existing one. Since he's just reactivating his current claim that runs through December 2024, the 7 weeks with the new employer won't affect eligibility. For question 2, he should request standby status when filing his first weekly claim after being laid off. So if he was laid off Friday, he would file next Sunday for the previous week (which would include Friday) and request standby at that time. Make sure he indicates this is a temporary layoff and enters the expected return date. Since it's a union job with expected recall within 8 weeks, standby approval is pretty straightforward.

im in the carpenters union and this happens ALL THE TIME. dont worry about the 7 weeks thing at all. your covering a base period from last year not the current job. just make sure he files the weekly claim when its time and clicks YES on the "do you expect to return to your employer" question. theyll ask for a date, just put whatever date is 2 weeks from when he got laid off.

Just want to add a bit of clarification on the standby process for union trades. Your husband will need to request standby during his weekly claim filing. The key things ESD looks for are: 1. Is it a temporary layoff (yes in your case) 2. Is there a definite return-to-work date within 8 weeks (yes, about 2 weeks) 3. Is it a union job with dispatch (yes, sheet metal union) Make sure he keeps his job search log updated even while on standby - technically he's exempt from job search requirements while on approved standby, but I've seen ESD be picky about this sometimes. Better safe than sorry.

I had the same issue with my husband who's in IBEW. If your husband already has an open claim, the 7 weeks with the new employer doesn't matter at all for eligibility. But there's one important thing to know: sometimes with these short layoffs, getting through to ESD to address any issues that might come up is a total nightmare. If any issues pop up with his standby request or if there's an adjudication issue, I'd recommend using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to ESD quickly. Saved us tons of time during my husband's last short layoff when we needed to talk to someone about a standby issue. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3 that shows how it works. So much easier than spending days trying to get through on your own.

what about the waiting week?? with only a 2 week layoff isn't he only gonna get paid for 1 week after the waiting week? that sucks

Thanks everyone for the helpful responses! Just to update - my husband did serve a waiting week back in January with his initial claim, so thankfully he won't have to do that again. He's going to request standby during his regular Sunday claim filing for this week and put the expected return date. I'm still a bit nervous about the whole process since these short layoffs can be tricky with timing, but I feel much better knowing the 7 weeks isn't an issue for his existing claim. I'll keep that Claimyr contact info handy in case we run into any problems getting through to ESD. Really appreciate all the advice!

One last thing - make sure he checks his ESD portal regularly during the standby period. Sometimes they'll post messages there requesting additional information without sending an email notification. It's a common reason people miss important communications, especially during short layoffs.

oh and tell him not 2 forget to file for the second week even if hes back at work by then!! u still claim for partial weeks if he goes back before the week ends