WRITTEN
REASONABLE
ASSURANCE
MSRS Title 29, Chapter 13, Section
1043.11E
Who should receive written reasonable assurance? All non-professional employees who are not paid for the vacation breaks in the school calendar. Common recipients of letters of reasonable assurance include secretaries, teacher aides, bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers, substitute employees whom you wish to use again, and other personnel who generally are only employed for the school year.
When should it be issued? It is the policy of the MSMA Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund Committee that written reasonable assurance be issued no later than June 15 of each school year. Those individuals hired after that date should be issued reasonable assurance on the first day of employment.
Should the letter be signed by the employee? YES! A reasonable assurance would not be established when an educational institution, on it's own initiative, has placed an individual on the reasonable assurance list for the next academic year and the employee has not agreed to be on that list. The notice must be, in effect, a response to and acceptance of the school unit's desire to employ that individual during the next school year. By signing and returning the letter of reasonable assurance, the individual is agreeing to the terms outlined within it. If an individual refuses to sign or indicates that s/he does not accept the reasonable assurance, it will likely be considered a voluntary quit by the employee.
How is a school unit's liability reduced? If it is determined that an individual who is applying for unemployment benefits has been issued written reasonable assurance and the period of unemployment is due to a regularly scheduled break in the school year , the Bureau of Employment Security will not include wages earned from a school unit when determining the claimant's base period wages. As a result, the school unit will not be assessed for any of the benefit payments made for those weeks. Once the break is over, the wages will be included and the unit will be responsible for it's proportionate share of future benefit payments.
What should accompany the letter of reasonable assurance? The school unit should include a copy of the school calendar for the appropriate school year. If the reasonable assurance is for adult education personnel, make sure to include a calendar for the adult education year rather than the regular school year and starting and ending dates might differ.
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