What Are the Requirements to Get Unemployment in Vermont?
The Vermont qualifications for unemployment insurance claims must be understood before you apply for unemployment benefits. Eligibility for EDD benefits takes into account a few specific factors for each applicant. If a petitioner is unable to meet every one of these unemployment insurance eligibility requirements, the claim will be denied and no funds will be available to him or her.
In order to achieve VT eligibility for unemployment assistance, applicants must have the following qualifications:
- They worked in Vermont in the last 18 months but are now unemployed.
- They lost their job through no fault of their own and have not quit or been fired for wrongdoing.
- They can provide a Social Security Number and detailed information about their past employment, if prompted.
- They are able to work and available for work on a full-time basis.
- They will accept an offer of work, if requested.
- They can perform job searches and willingly do so on their own.
It is important to become familiarized with how to qualify for unemployment if you plan on seeking financial assistance. One of the most crucial qualifications for unemployment benefits is that you truly lost your job through no fault of your own. Applicants for unemployment insurance will be researched, and if it is found that their employment was terminated due to a different reason, benefits may be denied. For instance, eligibility for unemployment will be denied if an insurance claim applicant was found to have quit his or her job. This is not someone who qualifies for unemployment in Vermont, because the job in question was not lost without fault.
A UI petitioner who has been fired for wrongdoing will not have eligibility for EDD benefits immediately after being fired from his or her previous position. An employee who was fired for wrongdoing by his or her employer cannot receive any unemployment claim benefits for at least six weeks but not longer than 15 weeks. After this period of time, you can see if you have eligibility for unemployment assistance by filing a new claim.
Those vying for unemployment insurance eligibility will not be granted benefits if they are found to have been fired for gross misconduct. An applicant who was fired for such a drastic reason can only meet the unemployment insurance eligibility qualifications if he or she returned to work, earned an income six times what the previous weekly benefit amount was, and got laid off through no fault of his or her own or had his or her position terminated. In this case, as long as the other qualifications for unemployment are met, a new application can be filed.
Unemployment benefit applicants are required to be completely unemployed. They cannot claim benefits for unemployment if they simply are not being paid enough at their current place of full-time employment. Unfortunately, having a low-paying job will still be cause for disqualification from receiving unemployment insurance benefits.
About Unemployment Insurance Interviews in Vermont
To determine if an applicant is someone who qualifies for unemployment benefits, sometimes further interviews will need to be conducted. These interviews are often referred to as the fact-finding process and are used to get details on applicants’ current situations and the specifics of their past employment. These interviews are generally conducted over the phone with an official representative, and questions are asked of the applicant about his or her past employment. The official may also make a phone call to the applicant’s past employer or supervisor to get more details about his or her experience. Most of the time, these fact-finding process interviews are conducted to pinpoint the reason for the UI petitioner’s termination. There can be a gray area between an employee who has been laid off and one who has been fired, so obtaining these details may be necessary to determine if the applicant has eligibility for EDD unemployment assistance.
In general, if a position or job title has been eliminated from a company, it is safe to say the employee has been laid off. Therefore, he or she will most likely meet the requirements regarding eligibility for unemployment benefits in the state of Vermont. However, if it is found that the former employer is currently hiring for the applicant’s old position, further investigation must be ordered to determine if the employee was laid off or fired. This can affect the applicant’s qualifications for unemployment assistance, and there is a good chance he or she will be denied benefits.
