Claiming Unemployment (Seattle: 2009, unemployment benefits, calculation)

[arodrigues88]

Hello.

I am looking for some help. My boyfriend recently got a job after being unemployed for about 4 months. He is hating his job right now and wants to quit. If he does so, will he still get unemployment benefits again? Or will he have to suck it up and stay there at his currently job until he finds something better.

Thanks for you input.

[azoria]

I just filed for unemloyment last week in Seattle after about a year and a half of on again-off again working.

In order to qualify you must have worked at least 680 hours in your base year. The determination of 'base year' is a Venusian calculation with no connection to any current reality.

Lucky for you, I have a letter from them with my claim which lists the base year calculation on the back:


"the base year is a 12 month period consisting of the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before the date that you filed your application for benefits". (see chart)


If you file in Sept 2009 your base year will begin Jan, Feb, March 2008, and then the following four quarters, Savvy? So your base year is actually last year. Not this year.

However, if you fail to fulfill the 680 hours in that base year, you can go back and request different base year be used. *sigh* Hopefully a base year in which you worked the requisite 680 hours.....

On Saturday I got 2 letters from the unemployment office. One of them gaveth and the other tooketh tooketh away. The first letter was a determination of my monthly stipend and the second letter was a denial of the claim due to my being short of the 680 in the base year. So I called them and we used a different base year, and my claim was accepted.

Good luck.

[arodrigues88]

OK yeah that makes sense. I will have to double check on that. He has only been receiving unemployment benefits for the month of August because he took some time off of work. Will that effect him?

[SeattlitefromNC]

Originally Posted by arodrigues88

Hello.

I am looking for some help. My boyfriend recently got a job after being unemployed for about 4 months. He is hating his job right now and wants to quit. If he does so, will he still get unemployment benefits again? Or will he have to suck it up and stay there at his currently job until he finds something better.

Thanks for you input.

I should give you the following warning, straight from the horse's proverbial mouth:

If your boyfriend leaves his job, then it is termed a "voluntary quit". Because your boyfriend has quit his job, there will need to be an investigation into how whether your boyfriend is eligible for unemployment. Right now, it is taking 6 to 8 weeks for investigations to take place and decisions to be written.

What that means for your boyfriend is that his payment could be withheld for 6 to 8 weeks until a decision is written.

If your boyfriend does not have 2 months worth of savings set aside, he might want to rethink quitting at this point. Just an FYI.

[pw72]

These "voluntary quits" are investigated quite thoroughly. If you want, or need unemployment benefits, don't quit. Also don't do something that can get you fired for misconduct. It's the same thing in the eyes of the unemployment folks.