Trials and Tribulations

Never having collected unemployment before, I haven't yet figured out all of the nuances.

Every Sunday, I get up before 7 a.m. so that I can file my claim for the week and not have to think about it until the following Sunday. Last Sunday, I logged on to the website, accessed my account and answered all of the questions: Did I look for work? Yes. Was I available for work? Yes. Did I work? No. Has my addressed changed? No. After watching the Explorer icon spinning for a while, my confirmation appeared telling me that there was a problem and that I would have to re-open my claim.

I figured this was something best done in person, so on Monday morning I drove to the career center in Northampton. I knew there would be a wait, and I brought along Finger Linkin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich. (Demand for it has settled down enough that I actually found it on the shelves of the Hatfield Public Library. I'm not even going to think about Sizzling Sixteen till sometime in 2011.)

After about 45 minutes, my name was called and I walked into a little cubby with a very pleasant woman who looked at my filing history. It appears that because I worked for 2 weeks in a row at Springfield City Library (5 hours and 8 hours respectively) the unemployment computer gods expected me to continue that pattern. I had not worked the next two weeks and that freaked them out. I explained about my "on call" status and the pleasant woman reopened my claim. She also was required to send a form to the city of Sprinfield asking why I worked for 2 weeks and then not for 2 weeks. I'm sure the staff there have dealt with this sort of situation before and will fill out the form in a way that does not endanger my status.

This week was a busy week for me. I taught a workshop for MLS in West Stockbridge on Tuesday, worked at Springfield CL for 5.5 hours on Thursday, and taught another workshop for the Connecticut State Library in Middletown CT on Friday. When I logged on this morning, answered all of the questions and said Yes, I did work, an additional screen appeared asking how much I made. I filled in the amount, and my confirmation said that was too much money to collect an unemployment check. Not a problem as I have plenty of money coming in from my week of work. However, it also said that if I was still unemployed, I needed to reopen my claim.

So I guess it's back to the Northampton career center on Tuesday. I'm armed with my contracts from CT State Library and MLS saying I'm an independent contractor hired to teach a few specific workshops. I have a schedule of the workshops I'll be teaching and I'm hoping all will be well - until the next time.

I also hope I find a real job soon.