A claimant seeking unemployment insurance benefits is ineligible to receive such benefits if the claimant is not totally unemployed during the period claimed

In administrative appeals from four decisions issued by the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board the Claimants were found ineligible to receive unemployment insurance benefits because they were not totally unemployed during the period claimed.

Claimants were civil service employees working full-time at facilities operated by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision [DOCCS]. performing services as either educational supervisors or instructors or teachers for incarcerated individuals. Claimants were paid an annual salary for their teaching or supervisory duties during the academic year, which typically ran from September 1 through the June 30, next following.*

Prior to 2020, all Claimants also elected performed services for DOCCS during the summer months and were paid additional compensation at an hourly rate. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, Claimants were not offered, and did not perform, additional duties over the summer months in 2020. 

Claimants, however, applied for and received various unemployment insurance benefits for 2020 summer months. Ultimately the Department of Labor [Department] determined that because Claimants were employed and paid on an annual basis with respect to their regular professional obligations, they were [1] not totally unemployed on the dates for which they sought unemployment benefits beginning in June 2020, [2] were deemed ineligible to receive state or federal benefits for this period and [3] were charged with recoverable over-payments for such period.

The Claimants appealed the Department's determination. An Administrative Law Judge [ALJ] concluded that Claimants were not entitled to regular unemployment insurance benefits, nor Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation [FPUC], Pandemic Unemployment Assistance [PUA] or Lost Wages Assistance [LWA] benefits because they were not fully unemployed during the period for which they sought any such benefits and held any such payments were recoverable.

Claimants' filed an administrative appeal challenging the ALJ's ruling. The Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board, however, issued the said four decisions affirming the ALJ's findings and conclusions. Claimants then filed a CPLR Article 78 petition appealing the Appeal Board's decisions.

The Appellate Division, referencing Matter of Almindo (New York State Dept. of Corr. & Community Supervision-Commissioner of Labor) [___ AD3d ___, 2023 NY Slip Op 0642], noted that not unlike the Claimants in the instant matter, the Almindo claimants were full-time instructors, teachers or educational supervisors employed by DOCCS at various correctional facilities. Similarly, Almindo claimants were paid an annual salary during the course of the academic year and had the option of receiving such salaries over the course of a 10- or 12-month period. 

As was the situation here, the claimants in Almindo were not offered additional work during the summer of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, applied for and received various state and federal unemployment benefits and subsequently were found to be ineligible to receive such benefits because "they were not totally unemployed during the relevant periods".

Noting the Almindo court had opined "The fact that optional, additional work was not available over the summer ..., as it had been in prior years, does not change the analysis or conclusion that [Almindo] claimants remained employed over the summer recess, i.e., they were not totally unemployed ... and, thus, were ineligible to receive regular unemployment benefits for that period", the Appellate Division, in the instant matter, held the Almindo "analysis and holding applies with equal force" to Claimants here and affirmed the Appeals Board's determinations, without costs.

* The Claimants had the option of receiving their annual salary over the course of either the 10-month academic year or the 12-month calendar year. Three Claimants elected to be paid over a 12-month period, and one claimant opted to be paid over a 10-month period.

Click HERE to access the Appellate Division decision posted on the Internet.

 

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Municipal and School Audits released by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli

On February 8, 2024, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced the following local government and school audits were issued.

Click on the text highlighted in color to access both the summary of and the complete audit report

 

Garrison Union Free School District – Information Technology (IT) (Putnam County) District officials did not adequately secure the district’s network user accounts, establish physical controls, maintain complete and accurate inventory records for IT equipment or develop an IT contingency plan. Auditors found that district staff did not have sufficient documented guidance or plans to follow after an unexpected IT disruption or disaster. As a result, district officials have an increased risk they may not recover data and resume essential operations in a timely manner.

 

Town of Marion – Misappropriation of Justice Court Cash Collections (Wayne County) The justices and board did not provide adequate oversight of court financial activities. As a result, the former court clerk misappropriated more than $59,000, or 38%, of the fines, fees and surcharges collected between Jan. 1, 2016 through May 31, 2021. In August 2023, the former court clerk pleaded guilty to grand larceny in the second degree, corrupting the government in the second degree, tampering with records in the first degree and official misconduct. In October 2023, the former court clerk was sentenced to serve six months in jail and pay more than $59,000 in restitution. The justices did not perform a proper review of reports submitted to New York state agencies to ensure that all cases, including any cash collected, were properly reported and remitted. The justices failed to perform an adequate review of bank reconciliations or accountabilities to ensure that all collections were accurately accounted for and to promptly identify discrepancies or review deleted transactions reports. In addition, the board did not perform a proper annual audit.

 

Village of Washingtonville – Budget Review (Orange County) The scope of the review was significantly limited by the village’s lack of complete, accurate and current accounting records. Specifically, the village does not maintain up-to-date budget-to-actual reports to aid in the monitoring of its fiscal performance. The 2024-25 tentative budget includes sewer meter rents revenue of $1.6 million, Orange County sales tax revenue of $1.2 million, and water meter rents revenue of $1.1 million, but auditors were unable to project the amount the village will receive as most of revenue has not been posted in the financial software for 2022-23 or 2023-24. The 2024-25 tentative budget includes personal services of $3.4 million, employee benefits of $1.8 million, retirement expenditures of $675,000 and debt service of $542,000. Auditors were unable to project the amount the village may spend, as the village did not provide salary schedules and most of the expenditures have not been posted in the financial software for 2022-23 or 2023-24. The 2024-25 tentative budget includes a $100,000 general fund contingency and a $20,000 water fund contingency. There is no contingency for the sewer fund. Given the potential cost overruns from current economic conditions and the lack of complete, accurate, and current accounting and financial records, the board needs to consider whether the contingency appropriations are adequate and appropriate for unanticipated events and uncertainties.

 

Willsboro Central School District – Student State Aid (Essex County) District officials did not properly claim state aid for special education students who received services in summer placements. As a result, as of June 30, 2023, the district had not claimed $55,771 in state aid to which it was entitled, of which $52,640 would have already been received and benefited the district if claimed in a timely manner. The district also claimed $8,569 in aid to which it was not entitled. District officials also did not establish adequate procedures to ensure state aid was properly claimed for all special education students and also did not provide oversight over the official who prepared and submitted state aid claims.

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