NJ Lost a full time job can you collect unemployment if you own a part time business (file, claim)

[ilshap]

Hello
My husband just lost hos full time job but also has a part time business he started 3 years ago. It was only part time more like long time investmant to build up a client base before it can become full time.
2009 year we only got $1500 in net earnings since the business requires equipment which he buy whenever there is money.
Can he still collect unemployment. We filed last week and it went thru .
I found this on the nj labor site
[CENTER]
"Part-Time Corporate Officer/Owner[/CENTER]
[LEFT]If you operate a part-time corporate business while you are employed full-time, you may be entitled to unemployment benefits if you lose your full-time job. This is because you would be able to establish a claim based on your full-time work (your earnings with the corporation would not be included on your claim). Your earnings from your part-time corporate business would be deducted from your "partial benefit rate.""

So it looks like he is suppose to get. But how do we claim. Do we list this as a part time job? self employed? The business is registered as corporation he is the only owner. How do we calculate salary ? he never taken any plus he had bought some staff last month so he will have no earnings but more debt on his business credit card?
Any help please ? I don't want to be fined later own as we don't have any savings.

Thanks a lot


[/LEFT]

[gmcclure]

If the company is a corporation, then he SHOULD already be designated a salary. If he doesn't then its not a corporation or is a faulty corporation, and you should speak to an attorney immediately. File Unemployment as usual, it will ask when you file every 2 weeks did you work part time bla bla then it will ask how much you made etc.

[ilshap]

if the corporation is not making money how can he get payroll ? until last year we put our own money into it. It was defined as S corp. if it makes any differents. We never did payroll.
he is not employee of the company he is the owner

[gmcclure]

There is no such thing as an owner of a corporation. There are shareholders.. What you are defining is a classic misunderstanding of what a S-Corp actually is. Which is a seperate entity (A legally defined person). He needs to designate himself a salary. But this is a little off topic so I will go back on topic..

However like i said before, File for unemployment as usual, it will ask every 2 weeks did you work etc. Then it will ask how much you made etc.

[ilshap]

Originally Posted by gmcclure

There is no such thing as an owner of a corporation. There are shareholders.. What you are defining is a classic misunderstanding of what a S-Corp actually is. Which is a seperate entity (A legally defined person). He needs to designate himself a salary. But this is a little off topic so I will go back on topic..

However like i said before, File for unemployment as usual, it will ask every 2 weeks did you work etc. Then it will ask how much you made etc.

Thanks
So when he is asked how much he made should he put what the company earned? brutto or net? should we start trying to get a payroll? even if it is 200$ a month?

[BagongBuhay]

Originally Posted by ilshap

Thanks
So when he is asked how much he made should he put what the company earned? brutto or net? should we start trying to get a payroll? even if it is 200$ a month?

I don't think you understood gmmclure. If he was an S-corp, he should be drawing a salary and therefore should be giving himself a W-2. The company is not a person, so "owner" should not be his designation. File for unemployment as suggested, put in wages, if any, from the corp's W-2, and any wages made from there will be deducted from the benefits paid.

[ilshap]

I see, hopefully there will be enogh to get some kind of salary. In this case what ever is on his W2 should be reported and this will be like a part timejob right. so if he worked 4 hours over the weeked we report 4 hours and what ever salary we could get from the corporation.
Right. He doesn't need to report what ever the company earns?

[ilshap]

Also maybe some one knows in his case if he decides to do the bussiness full time can he switch to the Self-Employment Assistance program?

[YoyoJersey]

I have a similar question, so I will pop it in here. I hope no one minds. More than one question. I welcome input.

I own a small business and for tax purposes am sole proprietor. My business operated at a small loss last year and this year isn't starting out much better. I have worked a second job (both are part time, about 20 hours each) all along and it helps pay all the other bills, and sometime pick up the slack for the business. I just lost the part time job that I worked at for 2 years and pays all my bills, due to cutbacks. I am in NJ.

My questions are:

Can I collect unemployment for the part time job I lost?
How does having my own business factor into things?

I am hoping it pays that I started looking for a new job before I got let go, because I don't want to be on unemployment at all. I can't imagine NOT working. (This is driving me nuts and it is only the first day I havent had to go in.)

Thanks in advance to all who take the time to reply.

[sPlat]

Originally Posted by ilshap

Hello
My husband just lost hos full time job but also has a part time business he started 3 years ago. It was only part time more like long time investmant to build up a client base before it can become full time.
2009 year we only got $1500 in net earnings since the business requires equipment which he buy whenever there is money.
Can he still collect unemployment. We filed last week and it went thru .
I found this on the nj labor site
[CENTER]
"Part-Time Corporate Officer/Owner[/CENTER]
[LEFT]If you operate a part-time corporate business while you are employed full-time, you may be entitled to unemployment benefits if you lose your full-time job. This is because you would be able to establish a claim based on your full-time work (your earnings with the corporation would not be included on your claim). Your earnings from your part-time corporate business would be deducted from your "partial benefit rate.""

So it looks like he is suppose to get. But how do we claim. Do we list this as a part time job? self employed? The business is registered as corporation he is the only owner. How do we calculate salary ? he never taken any plus he had bought some staff last month so he will have no earnings but more debt on his business credit card?
Any help please ? I don't want to be fined later own as we don't have any savings.

Thanks a lot


[/LEFT]

From the sound of many posts, I believe there is a misinterpretation. Having a part-time position with a corporation will not PREVENT your husband from collecting on the other job's unemployment insurance.

It use to be that anyone with any indicita of ownership of a business entity, whether it be incorporated or not, EVEN THOUGH, under NJ law you were required to pay into UI fund, is ineligible to collect on any benefits for whatever reason as it is associated with that particular business. That may have changed because of the current economic crisis, however I doubt it. You'll have to review that with an employment attorney.

If however the income from that part time position which the claimant may or may not have an ownership interest in passes a threshold, their benefits (from the other job which they otherwise qualified for) will be reduce accordingly, to prevent unjust enrichment.

"income" (take home) or banked liquidated cash kept in the business/corporate name as opposed to "receipts". Again whether NJ will consider gross or net should be discussed with an employment professional and that will answer the question of how the weekly figure is obtained to report.

Another consideration is that the paragraph you cite is being used to distinguish from FULL-TIME, where the claimant is a corporate officer/part owner (>5% I believe) which in NJ would disqualify a person even from a separate job unemployment claim because, unlike part-time (as stated), that person under NJ would still be considered employed, even if no salary is drawn. Here NJ permits an owner/officer to be considered unemployed for eligibility purposes.