In Calif., jobless may get no benefits if they return to school

ShareThis

Rodney Olivarez thought returning to school to earn a GED or high school diploma was a good way to improve his chances of landing a job in this down economy.
But after signing up to take classes with Ventura Adult Education, the Ventura, Calif. resident learned that doing so could jeopardize his state unemployment insurance checks. Without that money, he couldn't make ends meet. So, he dropped the class before he even started.
Olivarez lost his job in December, joining nearly 35,000 Ventura County residents seeking work. He had been an assembly mechanic for Q Corp. in Camarillo, Calif., which builds testing equipment and does a lot of business with the ailing auto industry.
As he looked at different Web sites, he found more than half the employers were looking for people with a high school diploma or GED. School seemed logical -- until he ran into the state Employment Development Department.
Once he started a class and checked the box on the back of his claim form to say he was in school, his unemployment checks would be suspended until a phone interview could be conducted to determine if he could still receive payments.
To Olivarez, it made no sense.
"It's not like I'm trying to do anything crazy," he said.
He went round and round with people at the EDD, questioning why he couldn't get approval before starting a class, rather than starting, having his checks suspended, and then getting approval. He can't risk going without the checks, even for a short time.
"If we were independently wealthy, we wouldn't be on unemployment," he said. "I tried to explain to them it doesn't make any sense. If you're on unemployment, they should want you to go to school."
From the standpoint of the EDD, it all comes down to strict regulations.
The cardinal rule of unemployment insurance is that you have to be available to take a job in your field as soon as it opens up.
Patrick Joyce, an EDD spokesman, gave the example of a roofer on unemployment who is hit by a car crossing the street and breaks his leg. He cannot do roofing jobs with a broken leg, which means he would no longer qualify to receive unemployment benefits.
Similarly, if someone is sitting in a classroom during the hours a job is available, it may make him ineligible.
Finding work, however, is taking longer these days, with the county unemployment rate surging to 8 percent in December and economists projecting it will go higher this year.
Each situation of going to school is handled on a case-by-case basis, to see if the classes would interfere with job eligibility. But it's all done after the fact -- after you start a class, after your checks are suspended, and after the interview. State officials then determine if you can still receive unemployment insurance. The EDD does not review cases in advance.
It's always been that way for students on unemployment, said Wendy Summerfield, professional development center counselor at the Conejo Valley Adult School. She sees that with people attending the school's career and job training programs.
"They don't lose the money, but they get a gap," she said. "It's very stressful, and it's very difficult."
Still, the students she works with make the choice to enroll anyway.
"We do have quite a number of students collecting unemployment," she said. "It does tend to work itself out. It's just very stressful."

(Allison Bruce writes for the Ventura County Star in California.)