Unemployment
Unemployment compensation benefits are weekly cash payment to workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. Unemployment compensation benefits last six months or longer, depending on economic conditions, or until workers find new work. Unemployment compensation benefits create a safety net for laid off workers and are considered one of the most efficient means of stimulating a distressed economy. Following the great recession, for example, federal stimulus funding helped states extend unemployment compensation payments for up to 90 weeks.
The federal government created unemployment compensation benefits in 1935. Employers fund unemployment benefits through a tax on payroll. States administer unemployment compensation benefits, under guidelines established by the federal government.
To qualify for unemployment compensation benefits or insurance, employees must typically work a certain amount of time for any employer during the year or two before their employment loss, and earn a certain amount from their most recent employment. If qualified, employees are entitled to unemployment benefits or insurance, with certain exceptions. Those exceptions, known in some states as “disqualifying reasons,” include voluntary resignations and terminations for cause.
Unemployment compensation benefits provide some cash when needed most, but not a lot of cash. The maximum weekly unemployment insurance payment in most states is between $400 and $600.
To receive unemployment insurance, employees must be able to work and looking for work. Most states have “anti-fraud” units to prevent employees from receiving benefits when they are not eligible, and to recover benefits from employees who received benefits when they were not eligible for them.
Articles (13)
Severance Pay can reduce Ohio Unemployment Compensation Benefits
Severance pay in Ohio can reduce or eliminate an employee's unemployment compensation benefits for the weeks that the severance pay is received. If an employer pays severance pay in a lump sum, the Oh...
applies to Ohio
Overview of the Constructive Discharge Doctrine
A constructive discharge describes an employee's decision to resign because the employer made the terms and conditions of employment so miserable that reasonable people would resign. Under those circu...
applies to All States
Who should have to pay back overpaid Unemployment Benefits in North Carolina?
The majority of contested NC unemployment benefits cases we handle involve the following situation: The Claimant (former employee) files for unemployment benefits. The Employer gives the Division of E...
applies to North Carolina
Can I still be fired if I already resigned.
Most employers want employees to give them a two week notice before resigning. Sometimes, though, employers accept a two week notice immediately, in effect firing employees two weeks before the employ...
applies to Ohio
Severance Package
A severance package describes the pay and benefits an employee receives when involuntarily separated from a company. Severance packages are voluntary in the United States, so employers do not have a l...
applies to All States
Closing the Severance Pay Negotiation with Non-economic Terms
The amount of severance that an employer is willing to pay an employee, though usually the single most important item addressed in severance negotiations, is only one severance issue. Additional issue...
applies to All States
Employee Benefits Overview
As a result of the employment relationship, employees are entitled to certain benefits, such as retirement and disability compensation, as a matter of law. In addition, once an employer decides to off...
applies to All States
Florida Law for Employer Defamation
Suppose an employer accuses its employee of theft, and fires her for that reason. Suppose the employer then tells prospective employers who call for a reference that the employee was terminated for th...
applies to Florida
Families First Coronavirus Response Act - An analysis of House Bill 6201
On March 19, 2020 the Senate passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act to address some employment impacts of the coronavirus and COVID-19. It was a much smaller version of the Act that passed...
applies to All States
Why I Won't Take Your Case
"Because you're an idiot," is probably a completely unacceptable reason for refusing to accept representation of a prospective client (even if it is the real reason.) For more than a decade of solo pr...
applies to Pennsylvania
Dont Let Your Employer Misclassify You As An Independent Contractor
Enter your article here The Federal Government and President Obama have announced that they with the IRS will be cracking down on enforcement of employers that misclassify their employees as 1099 inde...
applies to All States
Applicants and Temporary Employees are afforded the Same Rights as Regular Employees Under FEHA
A decrease in unemployment rates leaves job-applicants vulnerable to sexual harassment . In June 2017, California’s Employment Development Department reported that the unemployment rate dropped ...
applies to All States
4 Rights Transgender Employees Have in California
While it is often challenging for any employee navigating work life to be a member of the LGBTQ community, transgender people tend to face the most severe problems, particularly in terms of discrimina...
applies to California