entitled to unemployment?

hdytdy1

I have a question...If you have a contract with the US Postal Service to transport the mail are the people that work under this contract entitled to unemployment compensation if the Post Office does away with the contract? My husband has worked for 12 years under one contractor and the Post Office has been talking with the owner about the possibility of not needing the service anymore. I have been trying to do some research on my own and have found that the contracts entered into with the Postal Service fall under the Service Contract Act. They are required to pay a flat rate (for him it is $15.22p/h) and an additional $2.37 for health/welfare. They are also required to pay for vacation for years of service. The owner does all of this. From everything I have read, it doesn't look like unemployment is an option. The Service Contract Act calls the people that help perform the contract a "service employee". The Department of Labor and the Wage Division set the wage determination and fringe benefits required for the contractor to pay. The owner pays us the $17.59 per hour. We have always been given a 1099 with the box checked non-employee compensation which means we were self-employed. Is this right?

Thanks for any help! I have read so much about all of this until it has really got me confused!

hdytdy1

Don D

Your answer can be readily gotten from a person called an Unemployment Insurance Tax Field Representative, or a similar title that may vary slightly between states. These people enroll employers, collect taxes and serve notice for delinquencies. They are either housed in your local labor office, unemployment insurance field office or your state's division of employment security. They will be able to tell you right away which types of employers are covered in your state. They can't give you information readily identifiable to a specific employer; but can answer questions like yours. My suspicion is that your husband was either self employed or was working for a contract company which should have been paying the UI taxes, but check with the people I mention above. I assume he has already filed a claim for UI. If not, tell him to. He will get a ruling from them that will also state the reason if he is denied. Tell him to list the man he drove for as the employer, not the post office, and take a pay stub with him.