Will I be able to receive unemployment in Florida if I quit a job to take the job I’m now going to be laid off from?

by Anonymous

(Florida)

I have been working at my job for seven months and they are closing the doors do the economy. When I filled out my unemployment forms through Florida asked me a lot of questions about the job I had before that. I left my other job because this job paid more and had good benefits. Will this effect if I receive unemployment?

Anonymous

Good question! What most people don’t understand when they file for unemployment is that the base period almost always will include wages earned from previous employers when you’ve had more than one job in the last eighteen months.

I’m going to assume you have just recently filed. I’m also assuming you started this job sometime in March.

Your base period is probably 7/1/07 through 6/30/08. Florida, like the majority of states use the first 4 of the last 5 COMPLETED quarters. If the quarter you apply in has not been completed yet it doesn’t count.

It is the wages earned during the base period that determine monetary eligibility in Florida or any other state, and the amount of your weekly unemployment check.

I do not know off hand if Florida considers quitting a job for a better paying job good cause (I can’t find a provision for this reason), but I do know that to purge a quitting disqualification in Florida a person needs to return to work and earn at least 17 times their weekly benefit amount. You’ve done that.

Hope this helps.

Chris