<prompt> Human: My wife is a public school teacher. Her contract year runs from roughly September to August. She gets paid bi-weekly every other Friday throughout the entire contract year, regardless if she is in school or not.Last month, I noticed that she got paid a week late. Essentially, she got paid on the THIRD Friday and not the SECOND Friday. However, the paycheck was for only two weeks worth of work.I called her payroll finance personnel and was informed that the teachers union agreed start the new contract with pay raises one week later than usual.While she did get paid her full salary owed for the previous contracted year, my irritation lies within that week where she was basically unemployed. The earnings from that unemployed week will be dispersed throughout the entire new contract year. Should I have a gripe with her payroll department? To me, it seems like they just got lazy and didnt want to manage new pay figures in the middle of a payroll period.EDIT: Is there a case for collecting unemployment?  <response>: within that week where she was basically unemployed.She wasnt unemployed at all. She worked, and shes getting paid for it. Most of us here dont get paid until some point after we perform the labor granted, its usually the next week or so, but delayed compensation is not the same as no compensation.Should I have a gripe with her payroll department? No, you should have a gripe with the union - this is either their doing they allowed that weeks pay to be spread over the year, or if its not, then theyre being lackadaisical in enforcing their own contract.Is there a case for collecting unemployment?See note 1. If your wife got laid off, and your union was smart enough to ensure a clause to be sure your wife got paid off for that week, and then payroll refused to pay her for the remainder of that pay, then youd maybe have a case. 