CLARIFICATION OF THE “REASONABLE ASSURANCE” CLAUSE IN FEDERAL UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION LAW

WHEREAS, United University Professions’ term-appointed members who apply for unemployment compensation are at the mercy and discretion of whichever judge hears the case and how that judge chooses to interpret the “reasonable assurance of continuing employment” clause in the 1929 law which governs the award of unemployment compensation; and

WHEREAS, in the past, some judges have interpreted any previous appointment to constitute “reasonable assurance” that the part-time faculty member will be re-employed the following term, despite the language of said continued employment being characterized as “contingent upon enrollment and funding”; and

WHEREAS, some institutions send legal representatives to such hearings to influence the court to hand down a decision against providing any unemployment compensation that the institution would be obliged to pay; and

WHEREAS, the National Education Association representative assembly approved an order of business to request that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issue a clarification letter concerning its interpretation of the “reasonable assurance” clause in the federal legislation; and

WHEREAS, said order of business specified that the recommended language for the Unemployment Insurance Program clarification letter would be provided by the Contingent Faculty Caucus of the NEA, and such a letter was eventually sent to DOL about a year ago; and

WHEREAS, UUP officers endorsed the initiative of the NEA begun in the spring of 2012 by requesting the American Federation of Teachers to cooperate in the NEA’s endeavor to secure a clarification letter from DOL; and

WHEREAS, the NEA is a UUP affiliate and the NEA has been working on getting the parties concerned to implement this initiative for two years without completing its task:

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers expedite the coordinated national effort to secure from the U.S. Department of Labor an Employment and Training Administration Advisory, specifically an Unemployment Insurance Program Letter (UIPL), clarifying that contingent faculty members of colleges and universities lack “reasonable assurance” of employment as it is discussed in Section 3304(a)(6)(A) of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act, and to assume the lead role in this effort if the National Education Association has not established a date for a planned meeting between Undersecretary Portia Wu and the major unions representing higher education workers (NEA, AFT, CWA, AAUP, UAW, SW and SEIU) by the time the 2014 AFT convention takes place.