Would I be eligible for unemployment when my spouse gets transferred to another state?

by Cindy
(West Memphis, Arkansas)

My spouse and I live in West Memphis, Arkansas and we both work for the U.S. Department of Justice. My husband may be transferring to Pensacola, Florida soon. Would I be eligible for unemployment upon our move?




Hi Cindy,

Federal civil employees would be subject to the unemployment statutes of the state they file in.

Whether you are able to slip through the loophole that the feds closed up at the beginning of 2009 which stopped people from filing in states where they didn't live or earn wages from a private employer .. I don't know. Federal agencies do not pay into a state fund .. a state only acts as agent for the feds.

Here's a couple links to check out.

Unemployment for Federal Employees.

Click 2009 then "Nonmonetary" Table 5-2 has a column specific to the VQ reason for every state.

According to the chart Arkansas limits this option to military spouses, but if you look to your left you will also see "UI modernization incentive payments".

Quitting to follow a spouse was one of the areas a state might have changed their law to receive a portion of the incentive payment. You can access the approved changes and the letters from the states with their proposals.

The chartbooks usually aren't updated until May or June .. so I've been double checking the letters .. just in case.