School Workers

Key Eligibility Questions

In general, we ask two key questions to decide eligibility during school breaks: 

• Do you have reasonable assurance you will return to work after the break?  
• What was the type of work you did with the educational employer? 

Each situation is unique and many are complex. We ask questions about these issues so that we can fully understand your work history, current situation, and eligibility. Please read the full explanation for both.

Do you have reasonable assurance?

This means having a contract or an offer to return to work after the break. When returning to work after a break involves a new contract, such as with summer break, reasonable assurance means you have an offer of work in the same or similar capacity and with the same rate of pay (or within 10%). It can be with the same or a different educational employer. 

• No –  If you don’t have reasonable assurance, you are generally eligible for benefits during school breaks regardless of the type of work you did. 
• Yes – If you have reasonable assurance, the type of work you did will affect your eligibility. 

Please tell us if your situation changes. Examples include if you are offered a contract with the same or a different employer or if your employer cancels your contract. 

What type of work did you do for the educational employer?

We cannot learn what kind of work you did from a job title alone. Many jobs involve different kinds of duties. We need to know what duties you performed and how much of your time each took. We will ask you to estimate this for each educational employer during the past 18 months, including if your position changed. 

In general, you are ineligible for benefits during breaks if you spent at least half of your time (50% or more):

• Directly instructing students
• Conducting research
• Working as a principal, administrator, or similar managerial position

School employees who spend more than half their time in other roles are generally eligible for benefits during school breaks. For example, janitors, assistants, accountants, and receptionists do not directly teach, conduct research, or manage others, and are generally eligible during breaks.

Direct Instruction: Not all work with students is considered direct instruction. According to federal rules, the services provided by educational assistants, teachers’ assistants, paraeducators, and preschool teachers are not considered direct instruction.

Example

A licensed nurse works at a school providing health care for students and teaching classes. After applying for benefits, we would ask the nurse to look at the past 18 months and estimate how much time was spent directly instructing students compared to other duties.

• If the nurse did not have reasonable assurance, they would generally be eligible for benefits during a break no matter what kind of work they performed – but we still need to ask. 
  • If it was summer break and the nurse had an offer to return in a different role or for less than 90% of their salary, they would not have reasonable assurance. 
• If the nurse had reasonable assurance and taught classes for at least half their time, they would not be eligible during the break. 
• If the nurse had reasonable assurance and provided care to students for more than half their time, they would generally be eligible during the break. 

Frequently Asked Questions for School Workers

Do I have to look for work during summer break or other long breaks?

Yes, most school workers need to be able to work, available for work, and actively looking for work during a summer break to be eligible for benefits.

You also must be willing to accept temporary, part-time, or full-time work to be eligible for benefits.

What does “temporarily unemployed” mean?

For school workers to be considered “temporarily unemployed” and not have to look for work during a school break, the following must be true:

• You expect that you will return to work after the break. For example, if your contract covers the full school year, you would have reasonable assurance for school breaks during the school year (but not between school years). 
• The work you are returning to is full-time or pays at least the same as your weekly benefit amount.
• The break is four calendar weeks or less. This is true for most winter and spring breaks, but not for most summer breaks. 

Learn more about work-search requirements on the Weekly Claims page.

What’s a school break or recess?

A school break or recess period is a time when education stops for students. Examples include winter break, spring break, or summer vacation. We contact school employers each year to gather the dates of each school’s break periods.

If you worked for a school and you apply for benefits during a school break, we must review your claim to see if the wages from the school can apply to your benefits during the break. These rules apply even if you normally worked during a break or recess period.

How do I calculate how I spent my time at an employer?

When we review your claim for benefits, we may ask you what kind of work you did for the school, including if you directly taught students, conducted research, or managed others. We want you to estimate what you did during the past 18 months for each employer. Even if you changed positions, we look at the entire 18 months.

What is a managerial position?

People who work in a managerial or administrative position are often officials at the institution, such as superintendents, principals, deans, presidents, human resource managers, controllers, and chief librarians.

What about educational assistants, teachers’ assistants, and paraeducators?

Generally, the services they perform are not considered direct instruction of students. If an educational assistant or paraeducator spends more than half their time directly instructing students, they are working in an instructional capacity. If they do not spend more than half their time instructing students, they are not working in an instructional capacity.

What about pre-K or preschool teachers?

If you worked providing care or teaching children in pre-kindergarten or preschool, you are generally eligible for full benefits during school breaks and recesses.

What if I worked at an Educational Service District?

If you spent more than half your time working in the office of an Educational Service District, you are generally eligible for full benefits during school breaks and recesses. If you worked for an Educational Service District but spent more than half of your time working in a school, you may not be eligible for full benefits during school breaks and recesses if we find you have an offer to return to work after the break.

I work for a school, but I am not a teacher. Do school recess laws apply to me?

If you didn’t teach students, conduct research, or manage other people, then you are generally eligible for full benefits during school breaks. According to federal and state rules, we must review your claim during school breaks. We will send you a questionnaire to find out what kind of work you did and whether you have reasonable assurance you will return to work after the break. 

Why did I get asked questions about what kind of work I did?

We receive information about where you worked, such as the name of the educational institution or school. We don’t receive details about what kind of work you did.

I am an educator, but I have not been given notice that I will return to work. Will I qualify for unemployment insurance benefits and need to have my claim reviewed during school breaks?

You may be eligible to receive benefits during the break period if you have not been given "reasonable assurance" that you will return after the break. Generally, reasonable assurance means you have an offer of work in the same or a similar capacity with the same rate of pay, or within 90% of the rate. However, we must review your claim to make that decision.

What should I do if I disagree with a decision to deny my benefits?

Any time we reduce or deny your benefits, we will send you an administrative decision explaining the reasons.

The reasons may include:

• Not actively looking for work
• Not being available for work
• Not being able to work
• Not accepting temporary, part-time, or full-time job offers
• Not being eligible during breaks because you directly taught students, conducted research, or managed others for more than half your time at a school

If you don't agree with the administrative decision, you have the right to request a hearing. The Office of Administrative Hearings will review the decision through the appeals process.

Learn more about requesting a hearing and filing an appeal on the Appeal Process page.

I was doing temporary work with a school, but I worked full time somewhere else when I got laid off. Do school recess laws apply to me?

Yes, if you have educational wages in the base year of your claim. We must review claims from school employees who worked full time, part time or in a temporary position for a school.

I worked for a school in the past, but I was laid off from a different job. Does my unemployment claim need to be reviewed?

If you worked for a school before being hired at your new job, and the school wages are in your base year, your application may need to be reviewed during each school recess period. This applies even though you no longer work for the school.

I worked for a private company that provides bus service to schools. Do school recess laws apply to me?

No. Businesses providing services to schools are not considered educational employers, and these claims are not reviewed during school recess breaks.

I am a substitute teacher, but I worked very few hours at a school. Does my unemployment claim need to be reviewed?

Yes, if you worked those hours in the base year of your claim. Substitute teachers are reviewed under the same laws as other school employees to whom the laws apply.

I worked for Head Start, and my claim is being held up by school recess review laws. A friend of mine works for Head Start and has received their money. What is happening?

If you work for an educational institution that provides Head Start services, you must have your claim reviewed during school recess periods. If you work for a nonprofit organization or a county that provides Head Start services, your claim will not need to be reviewed during school recess periods.

If I can’t use my school wages during a recess period, can I still receive unemployment benefits from another job?

If you have wages in the base year that are not from an educational institution, we can use those wages to see if you qualify for a reduced weekly benefit amount. To qualify for a claim with those non-educational wages, you will need to have either 500 hours of work or wages that equal 1.5 times the highest base quarter.

What does a full calendar week mean? 

For the purposes of Unemployment Insurance, a calendar week runs from Sunday through Saturday. Partial weeks are not counted when determining the length of a school break.