If you are teaching summer school, you may qualify for unemployment benefits in the periods before or after summer session. If you do not have a summer or fall teaching assignment, or another job, you may be entitled to unemployment benefits.

This results from a 1989 legal challenge brought by the CFT in the landmark case Cervisi v. California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board.

The Cervisi decision held that temporary (i.e., part-time) faculty are eligible for unemployment benefits between terms because they do not have “reasonable assurance of reemployment” given that future assignments are contingent upon enrollment, funding, or bumping by a full-time faculty member.

Apply for unemployment benefits online with the California Employment Development Department. If the EDD denies your claim, contact your AFT local union to file a timely appeal.