Should they or shouldn’t they? Some of the Townships have been questioning whether or not Election Workers should be included on their UIA Form 1028.
After extensive research and phone calls with the Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA), they have informed us that all election workers’ wages MUST be reported on the UIA Form 1028. There is no minimum wage requirement for them to be reported.
Now some of you may be thinking, “If I put these individuals on UIA Form 1028, that means they can file for un-employment benefits and then I’m going to get charged for these individuals?”. We thought the same thing. How can a person who earns maybe $50 file for unemployment benefits? We asked UIA that very same question and here was their response.
“An entitlement to benefits is based on whether an individual has earned sufficient wages to establish a claim. If a worker has other employment and earns sufficient wages, he/she would be entitled to benefits unless disqualified or held ineligible for some other reasons such as being fired for misconduct or voluntarily quitting without good cause attributable to the employer. If the individual can establish a claim, all employers in the base period (the period of wages looked at to establish the claim) would be responsible for paying a proportionate share of the benefits. In your case, where the employer wages amount to $50.00, its share would be nominal.
“Another reason a worker could be denied is if the employer applies for and receives a decision from the Agency that the workers are seasonal employees. Then the individuals could not collect benefits against that particular employer during the denial period (the employer’s regularly recurring season of unemployment).”
If you would like to see if your Election Workers could qualify as Seasonal Workers, you will need to fill out the Application for Designation as Seasonal Employer. If they qualify as seasonal employees, they will still need to be reported, but will not be eligible for unemployment benefits.