[kmullett]

My husband has worked for the same company for 7 years now. It's a seasonal job so every winter he is put on unemployment. Well last year his boss put him on 1099 to save the company money. We did everything correctly and paid in his owed taxes. This year he is back on w2 payroll but now that the work season is over he filed his unemployment but was denied because they couldn't determine a benefit year? What does this mean and what can ee do? Can he fix this and still get unemployment?

[joypulv]

States impose their own minimum earnings requirements. My state requires a wage worker to have earned at least 40 times his weekly benefit amount during his base period. If a claimant's benefit is $250 per week, he must have earned a minimum of $10,000 in his base period (the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters prior to the calendar quarter in which the claim is effective).

Your employer was probably at fault for paying him on a 1099 basis. As such he might be able to complain to the Dept of Labor. The employer, however, could get in a lot of trouble, and be forced to pay everyone's payroll taxes for 2011. I know someone who was told he had to pay several years worth (but he hired a former IRS agent to get a huge reduction and compromise). I suppose this could all be used as leverage, but it's risky, or he could never be hired back. He may have to just try to get odd jobs all winter.