Do You Qualify for Unemployment?

i worked for a national company in maryland (verizon).. they recently renewed their contracts and everyone that started after 2003 in specific groups had to be surplused.. if they could not be placed for another job in the company or simply accept a severance package, they would be laid off. I did not take the package and i applied, tested, interviewed for multiple jobs within the area.. the first job i tested for i failed so i didnt qualify, the 2nd i tested, passed, and interviewed for but the job went to someone with more senority than me.. i wasnt notified of this until the day before my last day on payroll. So on my last day there were no more jobs available to take in MD but there was some in west virginia, and there was no way of me to relocate to another state (hardship) so i was ultimately laid off..

i applied for unemployment and now im being told after abt a month after getting laid off that my company is saying i voluntarily quit, which isnt true.. but because i didnt apply for a job in west virginia that means i rejected work from them.. which is crazy b/c theres no way to pick my life up and move to another state for a job i wasnt even guaranteed to get.. i have a life and responsibilities in maryland.. and they never even spoke abt accomodating me with the funds to relocate or anything.. so i feel like this isnt fair to me to be denied.. i didnt voluntarily quit... i stayed until the last day trying to apply for jobs with them, but another state is not realistic for me. What can i do?

Hi I used to work full time for a large corporation in Boston, MA while living in Providence, RI. This company was paying me about 500 a week after taxes. Before starting this job I had an unusual injury in my wrist, which got much worse while working at this company, and I was not able to do the work. For this reason I quit this job and I took another job which was less intensive on my wrist. This positionwas commission based (with potential for a salary 6 months down the road). The thing about this second job was that I was actually going to be filing my taxes as self employment income in the first 6 months if I earned anything. Unfortunately 1.5 months into the job the owner closed the office unexpectedly and stole thousands of dollars from me and some other people. What I would like to know is whether I have any chance to collect for unemployment while I look for another job. I realize I have an unusual case because I willing left my salaried job for another commission based job, only to find out that the second job was a scam. I can't go back to the original job and I haven't been able to find another similar paying job. Sorry I think I accidentally posted this in another category.

My husband just got notice last week that his company is changing offices and the new location will be significantly further away. He has until the end of this week to let them know if he will be moving with them or not. He is also on FMLA for care of a disabled spouse as I am disabled and on occassion need his help. This sometimes means he goes to work and I have to call him to come home early for help and being so much further away would make it extremely difficult. He is willing and able to work as it is not his own disability. Would he qualify for unemployment if he said he was leaving the company due to the location change and the hardship it would place on his ability to help me when needed?

I worked for Harrah's Entertainment for 35 years in Payroll starting as a clerk and advancing to supervisor. I was laid off in October 2008 for elimination of position. I was given a six month severance package. I actively seeked employment. In November 2008, I found employment as a Property Manager with the non-profit company Global Property. In February 2009, I had to resigned to care for my aging parents while my sibling, their main caregiver, had surgery. I secured employment in April 2009 with Ameristar Casino, Inc. at the Corporate level. In addition to processing the regular biweekly payroll which was my main duty at Harrah's, the position at Ameristar required a high volume of working with Excel Spreadsheets; closing payroll to the general ledger and payables; garnishments; leave of absence accrual corrections (which I needed to know but would be shown to me at a later date); out-of-state taxes, etc. All this had to be done weekly because at the end of August, I was given a second property to pay. I was not fast enough to meet the deadline (there was a time difference because the Payrolls that I processed were in a different time zone) of completing a payroll every Friday, Monday, and Tuesday in addition to auditing of new hires, transfers, salary changes, etc. that were received from Human Resources and the processing of twice weekly on-demand checks for adjustments, termination, learning new programs, etc. At Harrah's, these duties where divided among several clerks. The stress of trying to do them all by myself caused me to have severe pain in my shoulder and chest. I was admitted to the hospital for two days in September 2009. It was ruled out that it was my heart. At the beginning of October 2009, I was diagnosed with arthritis and given medication that stopped the pain. However, the more I stressed in trying to meet the deadlines, the pain returned and taking the medication caused me to be drowsy. I resigned my position on October 16, 2009 because I just was not able to meet the deadlines and have not had pain since. I have been seeking employment with companies that process payroll within the city, administrative position, and Property Management positions.

I've been working at my current job in MA for a number of years (5+) and as time has gone on, they've had more and more financial difficulties. For more than a year now, they went from direct deposit to personal checks for paychecks and have had problems paying on time. Lately it has gotten even worse. My paycheck for Oct 16th was late 10 days. The one for the 30th was 14 days late (last fri, when I should have been getting a new paycheck).

Since I was nervous about it, I went to cash it at the bank it was drawn on and it had insufficient funds. My boss called me (since the bank called him) to say I should have cashed it at my own bank instead since the money would have been in there by the time my bank requested the funds. I'd guess it is probably true (despite everything, there's never been any bounced checks) but it still makes me uncomfortable. The check I was supposed to get this last Friday they claim I'll get on Wednesday, but who knows since they frequently say checks will come on a certain day and then they up up pushing it further on again.

I also found out that they've been withholding taxes and 401k money from the paychecks but haven't actually been paying it out to the gov or the 401k funds. That's been going on for a least a couple of months. It also happened for a span of six months or so last year and there was a bunch of hoopla about how it wouldn't happen again and now it has. I don't have a 401k plan myself so not sure if that effects me, though maybe the tax thing does.

Plus there's the fact that a lot of freelancers and vendors haven't been paid, which gives the company a bad reputation. I feel like at this point it is actually hurting my personal reputation to be working here. I'm looking for work but haven't found anything yet. I'd like to try to quit and get unemployment, but I want to try to get a feel for if I can get it. I tried calling unemployment directly but they said they couldn't give any guidelines on what is just cause and I'd just have to quit and apply.

Someone else who quit here about 6 months ago was able to get unemployment but it just makes me nervous that I have to quit before I can have any idea of if I'd qualify..

Any thoughts? Thanks..

This is actually a question concerning my girlfriend. She was fired last May from her job in South Carolina, she is planning to move to Charlotte, NC with me but has been unsuccessful in finding a job. I mentioned collecting unemployment before but she hasn't done anything about it. My question, is she eligible to for unemployment should she move to Charlotte? I think it would help her out a ton with her car payments and other bills. She's able to work and has been actively searching for jobs since getting fired. If she can qualify that would be great news.

We own a business here in OH (S-CORP). I had to take a job outside of the business because we were making so little. My husband has to find something now, because income to the business is 1/6 of what it was. It's so little, that he has not been able to take a paycheck at all in 2009. We have payed into unemployment for thebusiness as business owners since 2005, except for this year, as there have been no paychecks issued. Can a business owner qualify for unemployment in OH? Since they go back several quarters, I know he would get something if he did qualify. If not, then I wonder why owners have to pay in for themselves. Thank you.

I resigned from my job when my employer insisted I read a stcript at a due process hearing that contained false information. When I refused (and challenged the policy of making a case by any means) I was told to start looking for a job. It been six weeks snce filing my claim. Is there some policy on the length of time DC government must provide claim determinations.

The place I have been working the last 7 months has a hostile enviroment and I dont want to work there anymore. what is the best way to quit or get fired so I get unemployment benefits, my co-workers make it a horrible place to work and my boss really does nothing about it and she doesnt want me to go to her boss but I cannot keep working there under the circumstances but I really can't afford to quit and I really don't want to get my boss in trouble! HELP!

4 Weeks ago I was called in to my supervisors office. I was told I had to resign or be fired that day.
I was told if I resign that I could be eligible for rehire in the future. That if other companies I applied to called for reference they would tell them I am eligible for rehire. I felt I worked in a hostile work environement, others I worked with expressed the same thing. They were very hard on me. Do I qualify. Can I go back and change my resignation? Eileen

From March 2008 to June 2009 I worked as a Police Officer. June 2009 a changed jobs as a rental maintenance mechanic. Prior to this employment I had a verbal agreement that I would be my own boss as long as all the trouble calls were completed. I expressly informed him that I was able to do all work required with the exception of HVAC, (I can install HVAC but not qualified to troubleshoot) He agreed that I would try my best on the HVAC and if I was unable to repair he would call a HVAC technician. Oct 2009 my boss informed me he was had received numerous reports that I allowed my co-worker to do all the work when the boss was not around, that I was constantly on the cell phone. Neither of these were true. He also stated that since I had failed to repair 2 out of approx 20 HVAC service calls he wanted to let me go and hire someone with more HVAC experience and I could collect my last paycheck and go home. Since I have only worked at this job for 4 months can I still collect unemployment?

I have worked as a real estate agent for 10 years. My license is held by a broker/owner of a large international franchise company. With the severe decline in the real estate market, I have not been able to generate enough income to support my family. The company charges a $750 monthly "management fee" which enables you to earn commissions under their broker license. My income is reported on a 1099 form. I am actively seeking employment outside of the real estate industry. With the severe fall of in my commissions this year, I have arrived at a point where it is no longer possible to continue paying the $750 fee and consequently eliminates by ability to earn commissions with that company. If I can not make the management fee payments they will send my license back to the State to be held in escrow. While I'm looking for other employment, is it possible to receive unemployment compensation?

I was recently disharged. I just had my hearing for unemployment benefits. I worked for a food distribution center. I worked for this company for 6 years. During my last 2 years I loaded trucks. Just this year the managment complained of soft sales. They laid off a few clerks. However, they said they were going to keep everyone on the warehouse floor due to the fact that they were going to lose some employees anyways who were close in points for being absent or late. I was totally safe. I had only a 2.5 points out of 6. Well, then it got crazy. I never had a write up in the 2 years that I loaded. But, all of the sudden I get 3 in 3 months for not following company policy loading procedures. I never seen any policy in writing on loading procedures until the day before the unemployment hearing. Oh, and by the way, all 3 write ups were different! I still signed that final write up though and the lawyer representing the employer was all over that fact. My testimony was simply; "Show me the policies for loading procedures with my signiture on it proving that any of it was a known policy." The Hearing Officer then asked the employer; "Was this policy known to the employees and did all of them recieve a copy of them and/or are they posted anywhere in the warhouse or in the employee handbook?" The employer simply replied; "No." So you see...even though I signed the final write up I did not know they were against loading procedures until after the fact. My question now is; Do I have a chance on this? I mean getting unemployment benefits?

I am currently employed by a company which I will not name. I am an assistant manager and a worker under me has been reported to say that she is out to get me fired before she does. Exact quote, better her ass than mine. I have reported this to my supervisor who has done nothing about the comment but instead continues to write me up for complaints this same person keeps making about me. I have been activiely seeking new employment so that I can quit however I have had no luck and fear getting fired. If i do get fired, I have only lived in florida for 8 months however been with the company over three years. Does anyone happen to know if i can qualify for unemployment while I am looking for a job. I have a young child and am pregnant again and the thought of losing my job scares me terribly. any thought?

I WORKED AT A JOB FOR MORE THAN A YEAR, AND WAS ADVISED THAT I NEEDED TO WATCH MY ATTENDANCE. WELL LONG STORY SHORT, I GOT A RAISE AT MY 1 YEAR AND 2 MONTHS. WELL THEN ON OCTOBER 5, I GO TO WORK AND WAS TERMINATED FOR MY ATTENDANCE. CAN I STILL RECEIVE MY UNEPMPLOYMENT BENEFITS. I APPLIED ON THAT DAY, AND NOW TO DATE HAVE RECEIVED NOTHING FROM THEM, AND WHEN I CALL I AM PLACED ON HOLD FOR SEVERAL MINUTES. DO YOU THINK I WILL BE APPROVED??? I AM IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA.

I was employed at a company for over a year, however, halfway through my employment i had to move due to the economy and this made my drive to my job nearly two hours long. I asked my employer for a transfer to a location closer to my new residence several times and nothing ever came of it. Subsequently, I had to quit because with the price of gas I could no longer pay my bills and continue to work with a 160 mile round trip per day. I am currently seeking a job and have been for two months, having applied at over twenty jobs but nothing has come of it. I am now in a very tight spot financially until I can get another job. Am I eligible for unemployment?

I worked for Chas Roberts Air Conditioning. Myself and another guy were sent to a house to change out the indoor coil. To get the old coil out and the new coil in the flex connecting the gas to the furnance had to be disconected first and moved out of the way to get the coil out. After the old coil had been pulled and the other coil had been replaced. The guy with me told me he would put every thing back together in the attic so I went down outside of the home to vaccume down the system and load the old coil. Before I had finished he came outside to my van with all of my tools and said everything in the attic had been done. I weighed in the charge and started the air conditioning system. The builder there came some time later I guess and smelled gas. The guy with me had failed to reconnect the gas line. I was fired for not folliowng precedure and he still has a job. They said it was my respnsibility to call the builder and inform him that the gas had been disconected. My supervisor had been at this house the day before and knew that the gas would have to diconected to change out the. I called him at the time of the call telling him that the gas lines would have to be disconected to replace the coil. He said disconect it but never said anything about calling the builder. If the guy with me an employee of eight years had not told me everything in the attic was done and brought all of my tools down to me I would have gone back up in the attic to get them and checked for myself if everything was reconnected. I had even turned the gas valve off at the meter outside and failed to turn turn it back when I left. I can only assume that the builder must have turned the gas vave at the gas meter back on and smelled the gas because the house closed at 1:00 pm that day. Now there is some debate to whether I can draw my unemployment according to DES. Why ? Why am I job less , much less worrying about whether I'm going to be able to draw my unemployment ?

hi, its been 3 years since my last job I'm 23 now. I started the job when I was 19 their for prob 6 or 7 months. I was let go due to I didn't call into work my aunt had passed an also my relationship with my girl ended horribly. So I was a mess an depressed, took me a long time to get over it all. I haven't worked a job since then besides like cash jobs here an their. I was wondering if I would still be able to get some type of unemployment? Currently finding work is hard. Thank you in advance

I was terminated in April from a call center for holding the "not ready" button for too long while training new employees. I did not think I could apply for unemployment because I was "terminated". About a month later I found a part-time job which I thought would lead to full-time, but it never did; in fact my part-time hours were cut making it cost more for the gas to get to the job then what I was earning. I only worked there for about 6 weeks. Someone just told me I should file for unemployment because the reason I was fired from the first job was a performance based reason. Does it appear I would qualify for unemployment and can I still apply even though it's been 6 months? Also, since the 2nd job was only part-time, does that information need to be provided when filling out the unemployment application?
Thanks

I filed for unemployment at the beginning of September, I left my job due to health issues, I was constantly dizzy and having bad migraines which started October of 2008. My doctor was giving me letters stating I should be off, but they had not been covered under FMLA. I was admitted in the hospital for dizziness and blurry vision in January of 2009 for a little over a week. I then had FMLA approved so it saved me for the moment. My health continued to decline and I was back again missing days. I was giving another FMLA package that needed to be filled out by the Neurologist. I had a difficult time getting it from her due to death in her family and her leaving the country for a month. The time had come and gone and I still didn't get her to fill out everything they were asking, which was how many days would I need off when these spells come on. Since I was not able to get my primary care to do it for me by the time for the needed information, FMLA was denied. My jobs had already sat me down a lot before FMLA was approved stating that I can't miss anymore days even though they knew of my health risk and the help I was receiving from my cardiologist, neurology, and primary care doctor. I didn't know if I should step down and leave instead of being fired so I decided to leave. I applied and sent unemployment a letter from two doctors stating my illness; I received a letter from unemployment stating that I am being denied because I am unable and unwilling to work. I am able to work so I got one of my doctor's to write me another stating that I can work and a spreadsheet of jobs I have applied for and some of their responses. I resubmitted a reconsideration letter to Florida Unemployment Dept in Tallahassee. I also received a hearing date but I am hoping that my resubmitted letter will be enough so that I will not have to do an appeal. Do you think it is enough information to get a second look or should I prepare for the hearing?

My son was laid off from a company after 6 years of customer service work this past February. In April he sub contracted himself out to paint an association of townhomes. The job is now finished - he worked for a self employed contractor who did not pay any benefits including unemployment. Shouldn't my son still be able to collect on benefits from the previous employer who laid him off now that he is unemployed again due to no fault of his own. He could have just remained on unemployment this whole time rather then actually working productively.

My wife's position at a non-profit church was terminated and she was offered a lesser job at an hourly rate 25% less than her previous salary.They gave her 5 days to decide. Does she qualify for unemployment? When the fifth day expires this Friday should she go to work?

I was working in security for about 6 months and was laid off and do not know if I can qualify for unemployment because the tax form I filled out was for a private contractor where I pay my taxes at the end of the year, I was given a choice of tax forms to fill out and did not know I could not file for unemployment if I was laid off. I would like to know if I could possibly qualify as I should not have been given this tax form, I was definately an employee and not a private contractor as a full time security guard. Is their any chance that I can be re-classified as an employee and then qualify? This happend to me more than 2 months ago.

I was recently fired from my job. I worked for a bank. I was a teller and vault teller. We were short handed after a 3 day weekend. I was very busy helping customers. I had a co-worker verifying money that was sold from individual tellers, at the end of the business day I balanced the vault and it was short 2000.00. They fired me 8 days later. Ive worked there for 11 months. My bank collapsed. FDIC came in on Aug,21,2009 and closed us down. BBVA Compass took over. We lost our sick time and FDIC payed our remaining vacation time. I filled for unemployment. My job said that I was fired for not following policy. I never received the policies for BBVA Compass. I was denied unemployment because I was fired. I'm going to appeal it. Do I have a solid case. Please help.

I WAS FIRED FROM A JOB I HAD FOR 5 YEARS FOUND ANOTHER AS SOON AS I WAS UNEMPLOYED NOW AFTER FOUR WEEKS THE RUMMER IS THEY ARE GOING TO LAY OFF. IF THIS HAPPENS WILL I BE ABLE TO COLLECT UNEMPLOYMENT TELL I CAN FIND ANOTHER JOB OR GET CALLED BACK. PLEASE CAN ANYONE HELP WITH THIS INFORMATION

I was unable to perform my duties due to illness, I told this to my HR director and they said I resigned . I live in South Carolina and am able to seek suitable employment . Can I get unemployment benefits.

Okay, so this is long and confusing, but it happened to me and I dont know what to do....so if someone can help here is my story. The placed I work at for 4 years (I was a manager for 2 years) randomly fires me, and the only reason he gave me was because he lost confidence in me, but would not give me a reason why he lost confidence in me. So this happened on Sunday September 20 and he had also talked to my mom and told her the reason I was fired was because I was too hard headed. He also told my mom that he thought I was stealing so he wanted to do an investigation before he gave me my separation notice. So today (Thursday September 24) my mom talked to him on the phone and said we wanted the separation notice today, he told me to come up there around a certain time so I did. When I got there he told me that I was now being demoted from manager (so i was just a server now) and that they were just suspending me, I wasn't fired. But its only because he had no proof of me stealing anything (because I didn't) and I would more than likely be able to claim unemployment so he just said never mind your not fired. Is this illegal in the state of Georgia? Now i cant claim unemployment? i either go back to work there, or I go get a new job and he just gets away with this?

I worked for 1.5 years in the sales department of a company successfully for a very challenging boss. I took a position in the marketing department of the same company and have been there for five months. I am currently on probation for "poor performance" but feel as though my boss has been abusing me, thus my poor performance. I don't think it qualifies as abuse officially because I haven't been attacked personally, or at least that's what HR says. She screams and yells at me, ignores me other times, doesn't give clear direction; as a result I have been so nervous and stressed that I have anxiety attacks, can't eat, or sleep. If I quit for the sake of my health, can I collect unemployment ?

Please help me.....any advice would be great. I need all the help I can get for this case:

What happened:
I was scheduled to work at noon on Friday. I ended up being truly sick and incapable of leaving the toilet for long periods of time. Also, I did not have my phone, so I had to wait to call in until I had my phone again. So, at noon, I received a call from my shift leader stating that "I was supposed to work at noon, and this was my last chance." So, about 30 mins. to a half hour later, I called in sick. My shift leader stated "you know you have to be done now, right?" So, I called the next day to verify and my boss said that I "quit" with a "no call, no show." However, I did call. It was just after my shift. I hear that the company is going to try especially hard to fight my case. They've already started, and I answered questions like "No, I could not give adequate warning when calling in. And yes, I have been warned that I could get fired. But I was sick, and I had no phone. So, it was out of my control." But I most definitely did not quit, and I DID call. I have proof as do they. I have had three write-ups in the past for absence. However, I've workerd there over a year. My last write-up was for walking out of work to go to the doctor. I got a doctor's note, and I walked away with a write-up stating that "another mistake of absence could result in termination."How do I fight my case? Can they really say that I quit?

Hi Kerrykimfaith,
Unemployment eligibility varies from state-to-state; however, one general requirement is that you or your employer paid into unemployment while you were working. You should be eligible for unemployment, if you paid into into it while your business was booming. Check your local unemployment agency for more details.

I see that most of the newest comments are asking some form of the same question: If I leave my job for a specific set of difficult circumstances do I qualify for unemployment? In general, if you leave a job willingly, no matter the circumstances, you will not qualify for unemployment. If you feel like you have a specific set of extenuating circumstances, you should contact the agency that oversees unemployment benefits in your state, explain your situation to them and let them make the determination. The contact information for your state is available by choosing your state from the list on our 'Getting Unemployment' page. http://www.thebeehive.org/jobs/unemployment-101/getting-unemployment