Understanding Unemployment Claims

The Unemployment Compensation Law in Minnesota:

An employment separation situation is when an individual’s employment ends for any reason such as lack of work, voluntary quitting or a termination.  In order to obtain unemployment insurance you must apply for it on line with the Minnesota Unemployment Insurance Program, www.uimn.org.  If you are laid off or your position is eliminated for reasons that are not your fault, then you are eligible for unemployment insurance benefits in Minnesota. To remain eligible you must be available for work and actively seeking work.  However, if you are terminated or 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.

What Happens If You Quit:

If you were to quit your job and apply for unemployment insurance, an unemployment compensation judge would make the determination of whether you were entitled to benefits.  You must convince a judge that your reasons for leaving were real, not trifling, were reasonable and compelling reasons.  If your conditions of employment have been so altered that this caused you a significant disadvantage and that a reasonable person in your position would quit, than you may be entitled to unemployment insurance.

What Happens If You Are Terminated:

An employee who is discharged for misconduct is ineligible for unemployment benefits. Employment misconduct means any intentional, negligent, or indifferent conduct, on or off the job that displays clearly: (1) a serious violation of the standards of behavior the employer has the right to reasonably expect of the employee; or (2) a substantial lack of concern for the employment.  An employee’s refusal to abide by the employer’s reasonable policies ordinarily constitutes employment misconduct.

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