Hi,

I would like to know if I am an hourly employee, or an employee working under a contract.

I am an instructor at a vocational school in NJ. At the start of each quarter, my employer has the faculty sign a "work agreement". This work agreement structures our pay based on the number of hours we work in the classroom. It states that we are responsible for some out of class duties such as preparing lesson plans and attending meetings. There is no paid time off and the agreement states that there is no guarantee of employment. However, if we miss a class, we have to submit a timesheet and those hours are deducted from our paycheck.

All payroll taxes are withheld from our paychecks and we are issued a w-2 form at the end of the year.

In between quarters, the school closes for a period between 1 and 3 weeks and I have been told that I cannot apply for unemployment because I work under contract.

HELP!

I would say you are employed by them since you use a W-2 and not a 1099