Are you eligible for unemployment benefits?

If you were to quit your job and apply for unemployment insurance benefits in Minnesota, would you be granted benefits?

If you voluntarily quit your employment, you may not be eligible for unemployment insurance benefits. If you quit, you are disqualified from benefits unless you can show you quit because of a good reason caused by the employer. A good reason must be directly related to the employment which the employer is responsible, is adverse to the employee, and would compel an average reasonable employee to quit and become unemployed rather than remaining in the employment.

You have to show that your reasons are reasonable and compelling. Unless you can show some compelling reasons that would show that the conditions of your employment have been so altered and this is causing you a significant disadvantage, than it is unlikely you would be granted unemployment benefits.

Applicants who quit employment are not eligible unless the quit falls into one of the following categories:

  • Good reason caused by the employer (one that would compel an average reasonable worker to quit).
  • To accept better employment.
  • Your serious illness or injury required you to quit, or to care for an immediate family member due to their illness or disability.
  • The job was part-time work, and the wages in your base period are from full-time work that was lost through no fault of your own.
  • The employment was unsuitable and you quit within the first 30 days of employment.
  • The employment was unsuitable and you quit to enter full-time reemployment assistance training.
  • You were notified that you will be laid-off within the next 30 days and you quit before the lay-off date.
  • Domestic abuse of you or your minor child required quitting.
  • Loss of child care with reasonable efforts made to find new child care.
  • Your spouse’s job location changed.

It has become harder and harder to show that when you quit you are entitled to unemployment benefits.  If you have not articulated a clearly compelling reason that any reasonable person would choose unemployment over continued employment you will not be entitled to benefits. The types of reasons that are compelling are situations were someone is discriminated against or harassed or the employee is put in a position of violating the law or doing something unethical.