With unemployment rates remaining high throughout the United States, and with many individual states unemployment rates hovering above 10%, many individuals are now looking into the issue of who qualifies for unemployment insurance. Because there are so many misunderstandings regarding unemployment, a large percentage of people who take the time to fill out and submit an application end up being denied. For some, the denial comes because the work history and income earnings leading up to the time that the person lost their job do not meet unemployment law standards. Other times, the reason they lost their job forbids them from receiving any benefits.
Unemployment insurance benefits are managed by each individual state’s department of unemployment (the department may have a different name in your particular state) and overseen by the United States Department of Labor. Because each state manages their own unemployment benefits program, there will be differences in the detailed rules and requirements of how you receive compensation from you department of unemployment. There will also be differences in how many weeks you are entitled to benefits and how much your weekly benefit check will be.
In this article we will review the general requirements that almost all states have before you will qualify for unemployment. Be sure to check with the particulars of your state before you submit an unemployment application.
To qualify for unemployment, show that you work for a “qualified employer”, that you lost your job in a manner that is acceptable under the law, and that while you are working for a qualified employer you earned a minimum amount of money. Your state’s unemployment office will want to see that you worked for an employer who was paying into the states unemployment tax system every time you received a paycheck. The purpose of unemployment taxes is to generate funds that can then be used to pay to individuals who have lost her job or are experiencing underemployment and qualify for unemployment benefits. If you are not paying into the system all you were working the state will not allow you to receive benefits out of it in the event of your job loss.
Secondly, if you quit your job or lost the job due to your own fault you will not receive unemployment. The law is set up in such a way to prevent enticing people from taking unnecessary or purposeful actions that result in them being fired. Therefore, only individuals who were laid off, dismiss due to the business closing, are the victims of the company going bankrupt, or other similar circumstances will receive unemployment compensation. Individuals who directly disobey company policies, failed to show up to work as required, or otherwise disregard instructions of their superiors will be denied benefits.
Finally, if you meet these first two requirements discussed above, you must then show that while you are working for a qualified employer and before the time that you were dismissed from her job in an acceptable manner that you earned a sufficient amount of money in your employment. Almost all states look back at a 12 month period of time to see how much money you made prior to the time you submit your unemployment application. This 12 month period of time is known as a “Base Period.” The Base Period starts after you skip both the calendar quarter you are in the time you file for unemployment and the completed quarter just before the current one. After skipping these two quarters you then add up the next four to make up your Base Period. During the Base Period some states will look to see that you simply made a minimum amount of money. Others will look to see if you made a minimum amount during the entire Base Period and that you made a minimum amount during one particular quarter of the Base Period.
In Conclusion
Although we have highlighted the general rules requirements to answer the question “who qualifies for unemployment?” you need to be sure to check with your particular state to make sure that you understand the detailed requirements that you will need to meet before you were receive any weekly unemployment claim payment.
Source: bankrate.com/finance/personal-finance/qualifying-for-unemployment-1.aspx
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