In re the Claim of Royal

Appeal from a decision of the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board, filed April 10, 2001, which denied claimant’s request to recompute his benefit rate.

Claimant worked as a musician for the employer for more than 10 years until he was laid off in April 2000. He applied for unemployment insurance benefits, thereby establishing the 1999 calendar year as his base period. Although the employer treated claimant as an independent contractor, paying him in cash by the performance in exchange for a signed and dated receipt, the employer did not dispute claimant’s entitlement to unemployment insurance…