West Virginia Unemployment Eligibility

West Virginia Unemployment Eligibility Calculator

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How to qualify for WV unemployment insurance compensation

West Virginia unemployment benefits are available to individuals who have unexpectedly lost their jobs. These benefits serve as a temporary source of income, helping to cover essential expenses as they search for new employment.

However, to receive these benefits, one must meet specific eligibility requirements set by West Virginia law.

When determining a claimant’s eligibility, Workforce West Virginia looks at three main criteria:

• Work history and earnings
• Reason for job separation
• Being able and available to work, and actively searching for work

You also need to be a United States citizen, or be legally authorized to work in West Virginia.

Monetary Eligibility: Work history and earnings

To meet West Virginia’s monetary eligibility requirements, you must have earned at least $2,200 during your base period. You must also have earned wages in more than one quarter of your base period. Earnings in your base period are also used to calculate your weekly benefit amount.

What is a base period?

Your base period is the first four of the last five completed

calendar quarters.

If you don’t meet these requirements, an alternate base period may be used. The alternate base period is the last four quarters before you applied for WV unemployment benefits.

Non-Monetary Eligibility Requirements

In addition to West Virginia’s financial requirements, there are several non-monetary eligibility criteria that you must meet.

To qualify for WV unemployment insurance, you must:

• Be able to work: You must be physically and mentally capable of performing the tasks required in your field of work. Once a job opportunity becomes available, you must accept it. If you’re unable to work due to illness, disability, or other reasons, you might not qualify for regular unemployment benefits.

• Be available to work: You must be ready and willing to accept work if offered. You shouldn’t have any personal obligations or restrictions that prevent you from accepting full-time work, such as lack of transportation or childcare.

• Be actively searching for work: You are expected to make consistent and genuine efforts to find new employment. Acceptable work search activities include submitting job applications, attending interviews, networking, or utilizing job search resources.

Additional requirements include:

• Register with Workforce WV
• Be a United States citizen or be legally allowed to work in West Virginia

Work Registration Requirement

You are required to register with job services within 6 weeks of filing your initial claim for UI benefits. The registration requirement helps ensure you’re actively seeking work.

To register, visit https://macc.workforcewv.org and select “Job Seeker” under the enroll options.

Job Separation

One of the most important eligibility criteria is the reason for your job separation. To qualify for WV unemployment insurance, you must be unemployed through no fault no fault of your own.

You may be eligible for UI benefits if you were laid off or had your work hours reduced for business reasons. But if you quit your job for personal reasons, or if you were fired for misconduct, you will likely be denied WV unemployment benefits.

Good Cause

In certain situations, you are allowed to quit your job for “good cause” and still qualify for UI benefits.

Examples of quitting for good cause include:

• Unsafe Working Conditions: If you experienced a persistent threat to your health and safety at work that wasn’t being addressed, despite informing your employer of the issue.
• Significant Pay Cut: If your wages were substantially decreased without a clear and reasonable cause.
• Changes in Work Hours: If your employer drastically reduced your work hours, affecting your livelihood.
• Unreasonable Duties: If you were asked to perform duties that were far outside your job description or ethical boundaries.
• Hostile Work Environment: If you faced persistent harassment or discrimination that your employer failed to address.
• Legal Violations: If your employer asked you to perform illegal activities or violations of West Virginia code.

Ongoing Eligibility Requirements

Once your application for WV unemployment is approved, you must meet ongoing eligibility requirements in order to receive your weekly unemployment benefit.

Weekly Claims

You are required to file a weekly claim before you can receive an unemployment benefit. Each week, you must certify that you are able, willing, and available to work. You must be actively searching for work and documenting job contacts and work search activities you performed.

Report Earnings

You must also report any income earned. You are allowed to work part time and collect partial unemployment. But if you earn too much, you may not receive an unemployment benefit for that week.

Report Job Offer Refusals

You will also be asked if you refused any job offers. If you refuse an offer for suitable work, you may be denied UI benefits.

How many weeks am I eligible for WV unemployment insurance benefits?

If you remain in good standing with Workforce WV and continue to meet ongoing eligibility requirements, you can collect compensation for up to 26 weeks.

During periods of a very high unemployment rate, Extended Benefits may be available. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) provided additional UI benefits, however, these programs expired in 2021.

Reasons for Disqualification

There are several reasons why you can become ineligible for WV unemployment compensation.

Refusal to Return to Work

If you’re a worker temporarily laid off, you must return to your job if called back to remain eligible for unemployment insurance benefits. Choosing not to return to work when it’s available and continuing to file unemployment claims is a form of WV unemployment fraud and could result in your disqualification.

Leaving a Job Without a Good Reason

If you voluntarily leave a job without a valid reason, you will not be eligible for unemployment benefits. 

Rejecting Suitable Employment

If you’re unemployed and are offered a job comparable to your previous one, but you refuse to take it, you will be disqualified from receiving unemployment compensation benefits under current West Virginia law.

Be Honest and Accurate

If you receive benefits through fraudulent means, you must repay them. Potential consequences of unemployment insurance fraud include loss of eligibility to receive current and future benefits, forfeiture of state and federal income tax refunds, criminal charges, imprisonment, and felony or misdemeanor convictions.

If you are denied UI benefits

If you are denied unemployment benefits in West Virginia, you have the right to file an appeal. The process involves submitting a formal request to Workforce West Virginia stating your case for reconsideration. You must file the appeal within 8 days from the date of the denial notice.