• City University of New York (CUNY) campus in March 2020. Photo by Dave Sanders, Professional Staff Congress (PSC)

    Colleges layoff underpaid adjuncts then challenge their unemployment claims

    Unemployment insurance laws were developed prior to the widespread use of contingent faculty, and were designed to prevent K-12 teachers and full-time college professors from collecting unemployment during scheduled term breaks and summer vacations when they weren’t teaching. In nearly all states, these laws are being used to prevent adjuncts, who have since become the majority of professors, from collecting compensation when they are unemployed. This situation is exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.