Can you apply for unemployment if you were fired

If you quit your job without "good cause connected with the work" you may not be eligible to receive benefits. "Good cause connected with the work" means that your reason for leaving must be directly related to your job, and be so compelling that you had no choice but to leave the job. While in most cases you cannot voluntarily quit a job and collect unemployment insurance benefits, where you can show “unsafe, unhealthful, or dangerous” working conditions, that were so intolerable that you had “no choice but to leave the employment,” you could be eligible to collect unemployment insurance benefits. The burden of proof is on you, the employee, to prove that you quit for good cause. 

If you leave your job for personal reasons – for example, to move out of the area – your reason for quitting is not connected with the work. If you quit your job for better pay or more hours, you may be eligible for benefits under certain circumstances.

In both cases, a claims examiner will contact you by phone or email for a fact-finding interview to decide if you are entitled to benefits based on Unemployment Insurance law and policies.

However, if leaving your job was related to domestic violence, of if your spouse/civil union partner is an active military member who is being transferred outside of state, you may still be eligible to collect benefits. You will be scheduled for a claims examiner interview or emailed a questionnaire to provide proof of these circumstances. The examiner will decide if you can receive benefits based on Unemployment Insurance laws and regulations.

To remove a disqualification for voluntary leaving, you must return to work (in covered employment) for at least eight weeks, earn at least 10 times your weekly benefit rate, and then become unemployed through no fault of your own.

If you were fired or discharged from your job, you may not be eligible for benefits. A claims examiner will determine if there was any misconduct connected to your separation.

There are two types of misconduct: misconduct and gross misconduct.

A misconduct disqualification would begin the week your firing or suspension occurred, and continue for the next five weeks. After the disqualification period ends, you may be eligible to collect benefits.

If you were fired for any reason that is serious enough to be considered a crime of the first, second, third, or fourth degree under the New Jersey Code of Criminal Justice, you may be disqualified from collecting benefits indefinitely. This is known as a gross misconduct discharge.

To remove a gross misconduct disqualification, you must return to work (in covered employment) for at least eight weeks, earn 10 times your weekly benefit rate, and then become unemployed through no fault of your own. In addition, the wages you earned with the employer who discharged you cannot be used to establish a current or future claim for Unemployment Insurance benefits, or to remove a disqualification.

If you were fired, you will have a fact-finding interview either by phone or email to determine your eligibility. The examiner may request certain documentation as supporting evidence of your separation. The examiner will determine if you are entitled to benefits based on Unemployment Insurance laws and regulations. An exception to a disqualification based on willful misconduct may apply when the separation was related to or due to domestic violence.

Produced by Massachusetts Law Reform Institute and Greater Boston Legal Services
Reviewed May 2022

If you are fired, you may be able to get Unemployment Insurance (UI). But, if your employer had rules that were fair, rules that you knew about, and you broke the rules on purpose, you cannot get unemployment benefits. Also, if you purposely did something that caused serious problems for your employer, you cannot get unemployment benefits.

Your employer may not want you to get benefits because he or she pays the taxes for unemployment insurance. If you get unemployment benefits, your employer may have to pay higher taxes. So your employer may try to prove you knowingly broke a fair rule or policy on purpose. Or, your employer may try to prove you acted against his or her wishes.

To prove that you broke a reasonable rule

Your employer must show:

1. Your employer let you know you about the rule or policy;
2. You knew you were breaking the rule when you acted;
3. The rule is reasonable;
4.  You were able to follow the rule; and
5. Your employer treats all employees who break the rule in a similar way.

To show that you acted against his or her expectations or interests

Your employer must show:

1. You knew that your behavior was a surprise to your employer or 
   you knew the way you behaved hurt the business 
   and
2. You were trying to hurt the business.

If you are fired because you could not do the job, you can still get unemployment benefits.

If you are laid off, the Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) will talk to you and your employer to find out if you can get benefits.  Make sure you tell DUA your side of the story.

If you are fired, you will need to contact DUA and apply for unemployment benefits. The sooner you apply, the better. The longer you wait, the higher the chances that your benefits will be reduced.

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