To be eligible for unemployment benefits in Vermont, you must meet the following requirements.
Non Monetary Eligibility
- Have been separated from employment through no fault of your own or have had your hours reduced.
- Be able to work.
- Be available for work.
- Be actively seeking employment.
- Be fired or quit voluntarily for “good cause” connected with work
- Must register for work in the Department’s Vermont JobLink system.
Note: If a claimant moves out of state, they MUST register in that state, with or without prompting by the Department of Labor. A list of other state Resource Center offices is provided. Bottom line is, any time a claimant is not appropriate registered for work, they fail to meet one of the eligibility requirements and will be denied benefits.
Monetary Eligibility
Base Periods:
Determining an unemployed worker’s eligibility for benefits is a multi-step process. First, the worker must have earned a sufficient amount of wages during his or her “base period” to be considered “monetarily” eligible. A “base period” is four successive calendar quarters that fall within the 18 month period prior to establishing a new benefit year.
Method One:
Any time a worker becomes monetarily eligible under method one, (s)he must be paid under this method, which uses all wages paid during the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the date the worker calls to file his or her claim for benefits.
To be monetarily eligible for benefits under “monetary method one”, the worker must have been paid at least the current minimum quarter amount during one of those calendar quarters. (Note: this minimum amount can change each year in July if the minimum wage per hour increases). Additionally, the worker must also have been paid wages equal to at least 40% of highest quarter in the remaining three calendar quarters of the base period.
Method Two:
If an unemployed worker is not monetarily eligible under monetary method one, the department will use the last four completed calendar quarters preceding the effective date of the claim as the base period. Again, to be monetarily eligible under “monetary method two”, the worker must have been paid at least the current minimum quarter amount in one of the four calendar quarters and the worker must also have been paid wages equal to at least 40% of highest quarter in the remaining three calendar quarters of the base period.
Method Three:
If the unemployed worker is not monetarily eligible under monetary method two, the department will use the last three completed calendar quarters and wages paid in the current quarter up to the effective date of the claim as the base period. Again, to be monetarily eligible under “monetary method three”, the worker must have been paid at least the current minimum quarter amount in one of the four calendar quarters.
Since the wage reports for the last completed and current calendar quarters (used under the monetary methods two and three) will not yet have been received, a special request for these quarter’s wages will be sent to all employers who furnished employment to the individual during these quarters. Again, the worker must also meet the other two monetary requirements to become monetarily eligible.
Method Four:
This method is only available to individuals who have been receiving Workers Compensation benefits because of temporary total disability. A former Workers’ Compensation recipient will be entitled to receive unemployment insurance benefits, which would have been available at the time of separation from employment, as long as the worker, at the time of filing,
- is not monetarily eligible under other monetary methods
- has filed a claim within six months after the termination of the period of temporary total disability
- is otherwise eligible for unemployment insurance
- has met the minimum quarterly qualifier, along with meeting the 40% rule previously described
Eligibility Questions
If I quit my job voluntarily, will I qualify for UC?
Most probably no. If the reason for job separation is anything other than lack of work or unless you lost your job due to a fault that was not yours, you may not qualify for UC. Quitting for personal reasons or reasons that can’t be attributed to your employer will not make you eligible for UC.
However, if you quit your job because the atmosphere at work was hostile or if you were treated unfairly, you may stand a chance to receive benefits. Kindly contact your State’s Unemployment Insurance agency to get clarification on such instances.
The department usually conducts a check to determine every claimants eligibility before they are deemed fit for receiving UC. Hence in cases where reasons for job separation are medical separation, discharge or voluntary quits, there could be delays in getting the claims approved.
If I was fired from my job, will I qualify for UC?
If you were fired for anything other than lack of work, you may not qualify for benefits. Reasons like misconduct, discrimination towards a subordinate or in general anything qualifying for a disciplinary action will not deem you fit for unemployment insurance benefits.
If you need to qualify again, you have to take up a new job and earn 6 times the minimum weekly benefit amount to deem yourself eligible for UC again.
Yet another important point is that a wages earned in a certain job from which you were fired for gross misconduct will not be taken into consideration while calculating your base period wages.
What if I faced a layoff at work?
Your employer will be asked to confirm that you were indeed laid off. Layoffs usually don’t cause a reduction in the benefit amounts, neither is there any penalty.
As such UI programs are social welfare programs that are designed to provide temporary financial assistance to individuals who lost their jobs due to no fault of theirs.
We recommend that you file for UI as soon as you get laid off. In general, lay-offs are not considered as a result of an employee’s actions.
What is the Unemployment Fact – Finding and Adjudication process all about?
Fact Finding and Adjudication process serves to gather facts from base period employers of a claimant. Depending upon whom the mistake lies with, the eligibility of the claimant is determined. The state then gathers all the facts and issues a determination to both the claimant and the employer. If there is any disagreement on the determination sent by the state, an appeal can be made regarding the same. Read more about Unemployment Fact – Finding and Adjudication process.
More Questions?? Read Eligibility Q & A Section
Want to know about how much you will receive?? Calculate your benefits here
Comments are closed.