Rites of passage. Every society has them. In contemporary American society passing your driver's license test, a first kiss, graduating from high school and having the first alcoholic drink at 21 were rites of passage.
And for years, going to the unemployment office to "sign up" for unemployment benefits after being laid off or fired was a common rite of passage. Waiting in line. All those questions from a bureaucrat. Eyeballing the others in line who were there for similar reasons. I once questioned a man who sat in the job center parking lot for more than an hour. "I'm just sitting here getting the nerve to go in," he said. "I never signed up before. I don't know what to expect."
But the trek to the unemployment office to sign up may increasingly be a thing of the past. Many states, like Pennsylvania, require the newly unemployed to file for unemployment benefits via telephone or computer. There is no unemployment office to go to. California gives the option of printing a form and then faxing or mailing it. Ohio suggests those without Internet access go to a library or a one-stop center where computers are available free. None give the option of a face-to-face interview for the newly unemployed.
In some ways those who go to a Web site have an advantage over the man in the parking lot who was afraid to go in. The various Web sites give advance information about the questions that need to be answered and the information a claimant must have available.
Not everyone who applies for unemployment compensation actually gets money. There are guidelines about financial eligibility in all states. The concern here is that the unemployed person has sufficient earnings in a given claim year in order to qualify for benefits. Pennsylvania requires earnings spread throughout the year, thus eliminating people who may earn a lot over a short period of time but were unemployed for much of the year. All states take into account earnings over a period of time to determine if a person is eligible and how much unemployment pay they will receive. After applying for unemployment compensation, states will send claimants a notice of about their eligibility, the amount of payments and how much a claimant might earn before the unemployment check will be reduced.
There are also questions of eligibility unrelated to money. Non-monetary issues include questions of separation, availability to work and being able to work. Should people who quit a job get unemployment? What if a worker is fired? By federal mandate, all states have some sort of good cause requirement to determine eligibility. "Good cause" means that the person lost the job through no fault of their own. A person who voluntarily leaves work without good cause is disqualified in all states. This disqualification applies to people who are terminated for willful misconduct. All states have eligibility rules about being able and available for work.
Unemployment compensation is fairly uniform across the country, but every state spells out the particulars in a different way. There are a lot of "what-ifs" to account for. What about a worker who quits a job to accompany a spouse when they move? What if a worker leaves employment due to compulsory retirement? What if someone quits because they were sexually harassed on the job? What if a worker was performing satisfactory work but failed a mandatory drug test and was terminated. What about people involved in a labor dispute? What about teachers and school workers who are guaranteed work after the summer break? Are they all eligible for unemployment?
Each state can handle these issues in different ways.
To find unemployment information online for your state - and in some cases the address of a physical office - drop by the Career One Stop Web site sponsored by the U.S. Dept. of Labor: click here.
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