Layoff, Bench Time, and SUB Pay

Every brother and sister in the trades will be laid off. It's not a question of if. It's a question of when, how often, and how prepared you are when it happens. Construction is cyclical. Jobs end. Contracts wrap up. Shutdowns finish. Winter slows the work. The next dispatch hasn't been booked yet.

A 30-year career in this trade includes 15-40 layoffs, depending on the craft and the region. The brothers who build wealth in this industry are the ones who learned early how to handle bench time without burning through savings or making bad decisions out of panic.

This chapter is the playbook for the day the foreman walks up and says: "Tomorrow's your last day."

LAYOFF vs. FIRED — KNOW THE DIFFERENCE

These two words look similar to civilians. In the trades they are completely different events with completely different consequences.

LAYOFF means the work ran out, the project ended, or the contractor scaled down. You're released for lack of work — not for performance, not for misconduct. The contractor signs a layoff slip stating the reason. You qualify for state unemployment. You sign back on the out-of-work list at your Local. Your reputation is unaffected. You wait for the next dispatch.

FIRED means the contractor terminated you for cause — performance issues, attendance, safety violations, conduct, drug test failure. This goes on your record with the contractor. You may not qualify for state unemployment depending on the reason. You can be removed from the out-of-work list if the cause is serious enough. Your reputation in the Local takes a hit.

Read the layoff slip before you sign it. It must state the reason clearly — usually "Reduction in Force" or "Lack of Work" or "Job Completion." If it says anything other than that, call your steward before you sign. Some contractors will try to write "Performance" or "Voluntary Quit" on a layoff slip to avoid paying unemployment. That's a grievance.

STATE UNEMPLOYMENT — YES, UNION WORKERS QUALIFY

A common confusion every new union member runs into: yes, you absolutely qualify for state unemployment insurance.

Union membership does not disqualify you from state UI. The dues you pay are not unemployment insurance. They are separate systems. You paid into your state's UI fund through your wages just like every other W-2 worker.

A NY union carpenter on Reddit asking this same question got the answer plain: "Yes, union workers are absolutely eligible for unemployment benefits through your state's department of labor. Being in a union doesn't disqualify you from regular UI benefits."

File the day after your last day of work. Don't wait. Most states have a 1-week waiting period before benefits start — every week you delay filing is a week of benefits you don't recover.

What you need to file:

Last few paystubs (wage verification)

Layoff slip from the contractor

Driver's license / state ID

Social Security number

Direct deposit information

Most recent employer name, address, dates of employment

Most states pay about 50 percent of your prior weekly wage, up to a state-specific weekly cap. For a $50/hour journeyman, that often works out to $450-$650/week depending on the state. Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee cap lower. Massachusetts, Washington, New Jersey cap higher.

SUB PAY — THE UNION ADVANTAGE

Here's the part most non-union workers will never have access to.

SUB stands for Supplemental Unemployment Benefits. It's a separate fund that many union Locals have negotiated into their Collective Bargaining Agreement. Contractors pay into the SUB fund per hour you work (it shows up as a fringe contribution, often $0.50-$2.00/hour). When you're laid off, the fund pays you a weekly check on top of your state unemployment.

The combined goal: state UI + SUB pay together replace something close to 100% of your prior wages while you sit on the bench.

How it works mechanically:

1. You file for state UI immediately after layoff

2. You sign the out-of-work list at your Local hall

3. You file a separate SUB pay application with the Local's Fund Office (or trust)

4. You provide proof of state UI receipt

5. The SUB fund pays you weekly to bridge the gap

Real-world example from the IBEW Local 11 (Los Angeles) SUB plan:

State UI cap (CA): ~$450/week

SUB pay: bridges the gap toward your prior wage

Maximum 26 weeks of benefits per rolling 52-week period

Eligibility: 1,040 hours of covered employment in the prior 4 quarters

Plus: must be registered at the Referral Hall and available for work

A laid-off journeyman who earned $2,000/week before layoff in California might receive $450 state UI + $700-$1,100 SUB pay weekly — totaling $1,150-$1,550/week without working.

This is one of the most powerful benefits the brotherhood ever negotiated. Non-union construction workers have nothing like it.

SUB PAY — TAX TREATMENT

SUB pay is not classified as wages under IRC Section 501(c)(17). That has two big consequences:

No FICA tax is withheld (no Social Security or Medicare withholding on the SUB portion)

It does count as taxable income for federal and state income tax

So your SUB check arrives without the 7.65% FICA bite that hits regular wages. You still owe income tax on it, but you keep more in your pocket than you would from an equivalent wage payment.

ELIGIBILITY — WHAT TO ASK YOUR LOCAL

Not every Local has a SUB plan. Some do. Some don't. Some have one for journeymen but not apprentices. You won't know unless you ask.

Day-one questions to ask the apprentice coordinator or business agent:

Do we have a SUB plan?

What's the minimum hours requirement?

What's the weekly benefit amount?

How many weeks of benefits per layoff?

What's the rolling lookback period?

Where do I apply when I get laid off?

Does it cover apprentices?

If your Local has a SUB plan and you didn't know about it, call the Fund Office today. You may have benefits available from past layoffs that you never claimed.

SIGNING BACK ON THE BOOK

The day you sign back onto the out-of-work list is the day your future dispatches start counting.

Most Locals require you to physically sign the book or report by phone/online. Some have specific roll-call days. Miss the sign-in window and you go to the bottom of the list.

Standard steps the day after layoff:

1. File state UI

2. Sign the out-of-work book at your Local

3. File SUB pay application (if available)

4. Update your contact info with the dispatcher (phone, email)

5. Update your certifications log if anything is expiring soon

6. Hit the gym, do projects, sleep — bench time is recovery time

Be reachable. The dispatcher who calls Tuesday at 9 AM and gets voicemail moves to the next name on the list. Brothers have lost dispatches because they were out fishing without cell service. Your phone is your job during a layoff.

TRAVELING DURING A LAYOFF

When the home Local is dead and bench time is stretching past four weeks, traveling is often the answer.

To travel:

1. Confirm your home Local is in "slow" or "promising" status (sign permitted by international rules)

2. Call sister Locals to find which ones have work

3. Sign their out-of-work book (Book 2)

4. Take the first dispatch they call

The home Local won't drop you from Book 1 while you're traveling. You're still on the home book — just earning hours under a sister Local while you wait.

Critical: if you travel, you trigger Chapter 9's interstate hours reciprocity issue. File the paperwork when the traveling job ends. Don't lose those hours.

DON'T MAKE BAD DECISIONS DURING A LAYOFF

The single biggest financial trap of a long layoff is making short-term decisions that wreck long-term wealth.

Don't cash out your annuity early. A 10% IRS penalty plus federal income tax plus state income tax can take 30-40% off the top, plus you lose decades of compound growth. The annuity is meant to retire on.

Don't withdraw from your pension. Most defined-benefit pensions don't allow withdrawal anyway, but if yours offers a hardship option, think 100 times before you trigger it. You can't put pension hours back.

Don't drop your union membership to "save the dues." Reinstatement costs more than dues. You also lose your seniority on the book in most Locals. Read Chapter 10.

Don't take a non-union scab job. Word travels. Brothers know. The Local knows. You can be fined or expelled depending on your Local's bylaws. The short-term money is not worth the long-term reputation.

Don't burn bridges. The contractor who laid you off this time may be the one calling you back in three months. Walk off clean.

What to do instead:

File state UI and SUB pay immediately

Live cheap during the bench

Pick up certifications (OSHA 30, welding renewals, etc.) — many Locals offer free or subsidized classes during slow periods

Help around the hall — chip in on apprentice events, retiree functions

Stay healthy, sleep, fix things at home

Sign every roll call on time

A REAL TIMELINE

Common pattern across a 30-year career for a traveling brother:

60-70% of time: working full-rate

15-25% of time: on the bench / between jobs / weather days

5-10% of time: traveling (working but away from home)

0-5% of time: training, certifications, or recovery from injury

A brother who manages the cycle wisely — UI + SUB during layoffs, savings during good years, fringe benefits building the entire time — retires with more wealth than most office workers who never had a single layoff in their careers.

The cycle is the trade. Don't fear bench time. Learn it.

ONE LAST THING

Layoffs in the trades are not failures. They are not personal. They are not a reflection of your work. They are the structure of the industry — projects start and end, weather happens, contracts close.

The brothers who thrive in this trade learned long ago that a 30-year career is built across cycles, not in straight lines. Bench time is not lost time. It's the time you file UI, claim your SUB pay, sign the book, sharpen your certifications, and prepare for the next dispatch.

The next call is coming. The hall has not forgotten you. Your reputation from the last job is what gets you the next one.

Stay ready. Stay clean. Stay reachable.

The work always comes back.