How Long You Have to Work to Collect Unemployment

How Long You Have to Work to Collect UnemploymentHow Long You Have to Work to Collect UnemploymentNo one wants to find themselves on the unemployment line, even if that line is now mostly virtual. Its especially painful to wind up unemployed shortly after starting a new job, whether you left your last gig voluntarily or have been the victim of multiple layoffs. The emotional fallout can take some time to process, but your first priority, as a newly unemployed person, is to make a plan to survive financially until you secure your next position. Among other things, that means figuring out if youre eligible for unemployment insurance. How Long You Have to Work to Collect Unemployment Every state has its own rules on unemployment, including how long you can receive unemployment compensation and how much money youll get. Generally speaking, though, to be eligible for unemployment, you need To have lost your job through no fault of your own. It usually means that you wont be eligible i f youre fired or quit but not always. For example, sometimes workers are fired because theyre not a good fit, not because they were terminated for cause. If thats the case for you, you might still be eligible for unemployment. The same goes for some workers who quit because of reasons that make it nearly impossible not to quit, such as unsafe work conditions or lack of payment. (Note that a lot of very good reasons for quitting, such as having a sort of lousy boss, hating your job, and/or being bored at work do not qualify as good cause here.) To have been employed for the minimum amount of time required by your state, and worked the required number of hours per week and/or earned the minimum required compensation. State Rules for Unemployment Eligibility That last point is where it gets tricky because each state determines its own rules for unemployment eligibility. For example, these are Alabamas rules for unemployment eligibility, as of late 2015 You must have wages in at le ast two quarters of your qualifying period (base period). The base period is the first four quarters (12 months) of the last five completed quarters from the date your claim is filed. For example, if your claim was filed effective October 5, 2002 your base period would the 12 month period beginning July 1, 2001 and ending June 30, 2002. The total of your base period earnings must equal or exceed one and one-half times your highest quarter earnings. The average of your two highest quarters must equal or exceed $1157.01. Most other states have similar formulas to determine eligibility. To find out what your state requires, contact your state unemployment office. Dont Assume Youre Not Eligible for Benefits The good news is that the requirements generally arent set up to exclude people who joined a company shortly before a mass layoff or lost their job because it was a bad fit. In many states, if youve worked at some point during the last year, over the required number of quarters, youll be eligible for unemployment assistance. So, dont assume that because you barely had time to thermisch up your office chair and figure out where the coffee was made, that youre automatically excluded from getting help. In fact, thats a good takeaway for all things related to unemployment it never hurts to try for unemployment compensation. You might be surprised to discover that you qualify. Furthermore, while the Unemployment Office has a reputation for being a typically faceless government bureaucracy, there are (at least some) people there who want to help. The bottom line is that when youre unemployed, you owe it to yourself to explore every avenue to give yourself some financial security while you make your next move. Youll feel more secure if youre less worried about money, and its easier to make good career decisions when youre not obsessing over paying your bills.