[Cigars]

Has anyone received this email response from NJ UI and filled this out yet?

My concern is that it plainly states, that this is your one chance, no changes allowed:

Your response to this fact-finding questionnaire constitutes your full statement to a claims examiner. It will be used to decide your eligibility for benefits. Provide complete and detailed information. Once you have submitted your questionnaire, you cannot make any changes to your statement.

Are you claiming that you are ready, willing and able to work (and working), but have no customers?
Are you claiming that the stay in place order is the reason you are not working, (even though you are ready able and willing)?
Are you providing "documents and evidence" with your claim?

Are you reminding them that the NJ State Department of Labor has determined that Uber drivers are "misclassified employees" and Uber owes NJ $645 million in back taxes (as of last year)?
Are you reminding them that Attorney General Gurbir Grewal agrees with the NJ State Department of Labor?
Are you reminding them that the CARES Act classifies Uber/Lyft drivers as eligible for state UI plus federal assistance?

 

[atthehop]

I believe you need to answer YES to each inquiry.

 

[Cigars]

Last week I decided to turn my apps off.
I just decided to turn them back on and not accept any requests.
This shows me as 40/hour a week "working" but with no customers.
And this is documentation that I can turn into UI.
But I can't tell if the right approach is "underemployed" or unemployed.

I believe you need to answer YES to each inquiry.

But, its a question of "working" but underemployed because of Covid -19
or
unemployed because of COVID-19

It can't be both.

 

[Caspita]

Those last 3 questions could be the nail in the coffin for Uber claims and settling once and for all the IC vs Employee debate 🤣

 

[zombieguy]

It doesn't matter what you answer. Just fill in the questions best you can and say you are an Uber driver. An actual human has to review the claim and will get in contact with you or they will know you are a gig worker and will give you the $600+50% of the average UI claim in NJ. This is an unprecedented emergency, normal UI rules and regulations don't apply.

 

[No_Username]

It doesn't matter what you answer. Just fill in the questions best you can and say you are an Uber driver. An actual human has to review the claim and will get in contact with you or they will know you are a gig worker and will give you the $600+50% of the average UI claim in NJ. This is an unprecedented emergency, normal UI rules and regulations don't apply.

that's what I did, I got a questionnaire this morning also asking about your most recent employer. I put uber and all of uber info.

other questions were
last day I worked (march 20,2020)
pay (divided my gross from 2019 by 52 and put it as weekly)
reason for stop working - I put "other" and then wrote fear of exposure to coronavirus
asks if you plan on returning to work for employer - I put yes

then there is a whole coronavirus questionnaire which is more in-depth on it

then theirs a document upload page that i skiped and then i checked the box that says that i answered to the best of my knowledge and hit submit

 

[gonzotildawn]

pay (divided my gross from 2019 by 52 and put it as weekly)

Forget that "divided by 52" shit.
As I've posted ad naseum... your benefits will be determined by the average income in 2 of the four quarters of your base year.
That will be 2019 if you filed... or 2018 if you haven't.
I sent my earnings of $800 (March 2020- before this crisis) and $59.99 (March 2020- after this crisis)... (based on my true March earnings) to qualify.
They will not use these numbers to determine my benefit... only to satisfy eligibility.
For me, it will be my 2018 tax return... I have not filed for 2019 yet.
The BEST 2 quarters of 2018 will be used... a $200/week average income will be the minimum required for benefits.

 

[JqYork]

How long after you applied did you receive that email? I applied a few hours ago and haven't received anything.

 

[No_Username]

How long after you applied did you receive that email? I applied a few hours ago and haven't received anything.

i applied at 5pm and got the questionnaire next morning at 10am

 

[JqYork]

Do you know if they're covering all self-employed people along with U/L drivers. My wife isn't a driver, but she's self-employed. Or... at least, she was.

 

[atthehop]

I believe they are covering all self employed people.

 

[Flawlessbox]

i applied at 5pm and got the questionnaire next morning at 10am

I got it a day after filing. I am going to respond tomorrow or next. I don't know how it will all play out but money is shrinking at alarming rates because of bills. If I don't receive tax returns and relief fund, we are not going to last three months. That with extra $600 plus is going to help stretch that number dramatically.

 

[FlyingFortress]

I filed last Saturday and have since gotten nothing in return. Looks to me like whoever gets the claim on their desk first at unemployment reacts differently because they really don't know what they're doing but they think they're doing the right thing. So it looks like some people are getting the questionnaires that are mentioned here and others like me, get nothing. The state workers down in unemployment have no script to follow for Uber drivers. Maybe they're trying and this is what that looks like.

 

[atthehop]

You have your hand out, just wait. Those poor people are overwhelmed. Your not on the top of the list to make happy.

 

[JqYork]

Wow. Well, imagine... they probably used to get a couple of thousand applications a week and then this week they're bombarded with 2 million applications! It must be seriously overwhelming for them. And they've had no time to re-configure their website to accommodate this new situation. It still asks the traditional unemployment questions, like 'who was your EMPLOYER'. And if you didn't have an employer and leave it blank it gives you 3 warnings and then says in the end if you don't fill that out your application could be greatly delayed and denied.

So, that's not a web form that's designed to accommodate independent contractors or self-employed people. So apparently they're having to read all these by hand, which will take FOREVER.

 

[FlyingFortress]

Wow. Well, imagine... they probably used to get a couple of thousand applications a week and then this week they're bombarded with 2 million applications! It must be seriously overwhelming for them. And they've had no time to re-configure their website to accommodate this new situation. It still asks the traditional unemployment questions, like 'who was your EMPLOYER'. And if you didn't have an employer and leave it blank it gives you 3 warnings and then says in the end if you don't fill that out your application could be greatly delayed and denied.

So, that's not a web form that's designed to accommodate independent contractors or self-employed people. So apparently they're having to read all these by hand, which will take FOREVER.

I filled in the answers that I inferred from the question even though I know that the question was written pre-Virus, but I took the meaning of what they were interested in knowing. If they have a brain, they'd read the answer I put in and they'd know exactly what I meant. But you had to put SOMETHING reasonable in those fields in order to get your initial claim recorded. My claim was recorded and I have a confirmation number, which says that I am in the system.

 

[No_Username]

I filed last Saturday and have since gotten nothing in return. Looks to me like whoever gets the claim on their desk first at unemployment reacts differently because they really don't know what they're doing but they think they're doing the right thing. So it looks like some people are getting the questionnaires that are mentioned here and others like me, get nothing. The state workers down in unemployment have no script to follow for Uber drivers. Maybe they're trying and this is what that looks like.

have u checked on your status? Maybe the system crashed when u did it and it never went threw. Happened to a friend of mine

https://lwdwebpt.dol.state.nj.us/ClaimStatus/claimStatus.htm;jsessionid=hkybS3Wgoq5UutpQJVUdu3mG

 

[FlyingFortress]

have u checked on your status? Maybe the system crashed when u did it and it never went threw. Happened to a friend of mine

https://lwdwebpt.dol.state.nj.us/ClaimStatus/claimStatus.htm;jsessionid=hkybS3Wgoq5UutpQJVUdu3mG

The good news was that I got a confirmation number and I saved that screen shot. I did go to the "check status" page and my information was posted, with the corresponding confirmation number and under "status" it said "PENDING."

Thanks. This is all an administrative nightmare but time will bring us answers. I know, we're concerned that we'll be denied because WE'VE ALWAYS been in that position as a rideshare driver. But in this case, since Uber, for once is not in the driver's seat, we might see actual delivery on some of the promises.

 

[JqYork]

I filled in the answers that I inferred from the question even though I know that the question was written pre-Virus, but I took the meaning of what they were interested in knowing. If they have a brain, they'd read the answer I put in and they'd know exactly what I meant. But you had to put SOMETHING reasonable in those fields in order to get your initial claim recorded. My claim was recorded and I have a confirmation number, which says that I am in the system.

You mean on the 'who is your employer?' questions? So, what did you put for employer, I think they called it FEIN number - they're employer taxpayer ID number? And did you put Uber or some made up name?

 

[FlyingFortress]

For employers, I listed Uber, then Lyft. The other numbers and employer IDs are posted elsewhere on the forum within the "unemployment" threads. You really need to spend some time going through all of it because most of the answers are here, but posted by different people in different places, and I don't have all of this off the top of my head. Go through those threads, you'll find that it will be time we'll spent. Also, spend some time on the NJ Unemployment site. There aren't many definitive answers regarding rideshare because they're not ready for us yet, but there's enough there for you to get a sense for how they think.