Important information in this email: 1) Resources to help you apply; 2) Faculty who have to apply by phone; 3) Victims of unemployment fraud; 4) Questions about work-sharing eligibility; 5) What you’ll be asked when you apply; and 6) How to select direct deposit for unemployment payments.
Q&A Session about Work-Sharing and Filing for Unemployment
Friday, April 23, 12:30 p.m. | Click here to RSVP
Dear colleague
It’s been an intense week as the work-sharing program began, and we want to thank you for your support and patience as we work through this process. None of us want to be filling in online forms, calling an automated phone system, or contacting UHR. But work-sharing was how we achieved progress toward our shared goals for a fairer Rutgers.
1. Resources to Help You Apply
- UHR’s Updated Unemployment Filing Instructions
- Our Union’s Annotated Unemployment Filing Instructions
- Instructions to Check Your Claim Status
- Union Form to Report Problems with Applying
2. Faculty Who Have to Apply by Phone
It is now much easier for faculty who have to apply by phone because they don’t have a New Jersey driver’s license or state ID. Thanks to a process we worked out with the state Department of Labor (NJDOL), if you call in and complete the automated questionnaire, you don’t have to keep calling to speak to a live agent. NJDOL has a list of out-of-state faculty who might use the phone system. So don’t worry if you are asked for little of the information you were instructed to gather—your responses will be enough for NJDOL staff to match you to the list of work-sharing participants from Rutgers.
We want a record of those who completed the automated phone questionnaire, so we’re asking faculty who called in to fill out this google form. We especially need you to fill out this form if you live in New Jersey but don’t have a state ID and had to apply by phone.
If you haven’t yet completed the automated input questionnaire, please call today between 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. It will probably take until next week for your claim to be filed; staff will have to match your information saved from the automated questionnaire with data provided by the University. You can check your claim status by following these instructions from UHR.
3. Victims of Unemployment Fraud
NJDOL has a list of known victims of unemployment fraud who are participating in work-sharing, and its investigators will pre-clear you. Do NOT file for unemployment yet. If you haven’t already, you should email UHR at hr_operations@hr.rutgers.edu and provide a cell number so NJDOL can reach you. Follow up with us if you have any concerns by emailing aaup@rutgersaaup.org.
4. Questions about Eligibility to Participate in Work-Sharing
Whether you have been told you are participating and think you should be excluded because of one of the exemptions to work-sharing or you have been told you are exempt and think you should be participating, your first step should be to email hr_operations@hr.rutgers.edu, cc your department chair and/or HR liaison (if you happen to know who that is), and explain your situations.
From the reports we’ve gotten, the biggest problem area is faculty who will get an honorarium or do freelance work during the duration of the program but weren’t given a chance to report this (or didn’t know they had to). You should make sure you contact UHR and your department. We also know that UHR is working on cases in the Libraries and SEBS where faculty eligible for work-sharing were exempted from the program.
We know that UHR’s inbox overfloweth, like ours, so be patient—it may take some days to resolve all these cases. Be assured, though, that all faculty will either be removed from furloughs and work-sharing or given a chance to apply for all the unemployment payments due to you from the start of the program.
5. What You’ll Be Asked When You Apply
You may not be asked all of the questions we told you to prepare for in our annotated instructions for applying. Many of the questions on the application don’t apply to us because NJDOL doesn’t have a specialized form for people on short-time furloughs. So don’t be surprised if, for example, you aren’t asked for your last 12 months of earnings—or even, in the case of applicants by phone, the name of your employer! Don’t worry—you didn’t do anything wrong!
6. How to Select Direct Deposit for Your Unemployment Payments
If you had to apply by phone because you don’t have a New Jersey state ID, you didn’t have a chance to designate direct deposit as the method for your unemployment payments. If you want to do this, click here to see the instructions. Note that you will not be able to create a PIN until your unemployment claim is listed as filed, and that won’t happen until next week for many of you. So be sure to check your claim status before you follow these instructions.
Thank you again for working through this at times frustrating process with us. If you can’t find the information you need, email us at aaup@rutgersaaup.org.
In solidarity,
Todd and Becky
Todd Wolfson, President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Rebecca Givan, Vice President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
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