Types of Separation
- Furlough/Layoff – you are almost automatically eligible for benefits.
- Discharge – you were fired and must show it was not because of “misconduct.”
- Voluntary Quit – you quit on your own and must show you had “good cause.”
- Do not apply before your furlough date.
- Apply during the week after you are furloughed.
- There is usually a waiting week when nobody gets benefits.
- If found eligible, payments will begin the week after the “waiting period.”
- If denied, you usually have 30 days to appeal.
- An appeal will trigger a hearing before an administrative law judge.
- Sometimes, it is possible to ask the unemployment office for a “redetermination.”
- If you were fired, you engaged in misconduct. If you do not believe you did, you must appeal and argue your case before a judge or hearing officer.
- If you quit, you did not meet your burden of proving good cause. Quit cases are harder to win.
- If you were furloughed, it could be because you did not work enough hours in “covered employment.” This term is usually defined in statute and is the most common reasons for pilots’ denial because the folks at the unemployment office just do not know how your hours are calculated. In WA, you need to have worked 680 hours.
- Benefits last around 13 weeks in WA, could well vary from state to state.
- The amount you get each week depends on a convoluted calculation involving “base year.” I have heard of amounts as low as $72 a week to a maximum of almost $500 in WA.
- Benefits are reportable as income in IRS Form 1040, so it is prudent to ask that 10% in federal taxes be taken off.
- During the entire time you are on unemployment, you must also show that you are able to, available for and actively seeking work.
- You must also keep a Job Search Log of all the job contacts you made during any single week.
- Be careful of the next job that you accept, since if you quit that one, you are now no longer “furloughed,” but a voluntary quit. And as indicated above, you will now have to prove “good cause.”