Unemployment if you quit or were fired in Colorado

Quit, fired or refused work

If you quit

If you quit, CDLE decides whether your reason is one the law accepts. Quitting for personal reasons not related to work usually does not qualify. CDLE contacts your past employers about every job separation.

Examples the state names:

• Unsatisfactory or hazardous working conditions, as determined by CDLE
• A substantial change in your working conditions that made them much less favorable to you
• An unreasonable cut in your rate of pay
• Your employer violated your written employment contract (after you tried all remedies in the contract)
• Personal harassment by your employer not related to your job performance
• Being told to do something that breaks a law or ordinance
• Leaving because you or your child were a victim of domestic violence, stalking or sexual assault
• A health condition of yours that requires you to leave (with notice to the employer and medical proof when asked)
• Caring for an immediate family member with an illness
• Your spouse's or civil union partner's job moved and you had to move

If you were fired

You may not get benefits if you were fired for misconduct, such as deliberate disobedience of a reasonable instruction or breaking a company rule that could seriously harm the employer's interests or endanger others. Being let go because you could not do the work or lacked the skills does not by itself disqualify you.

If benefits are denied for the separation

If a job separation is disqualifying, you cannot be paid benefits based on the wages from that employer. Wages from other base-period employers may still count.

Refusing work

Refusing suitable work or a referral to suitable work disqualifies you for 20 weeks starting with the week of the refusal, and your total benefits are reduced by 20 times your weekly benefit amount.

Law: C.R.S. 8-73-108(4), (5)

Official source: Source page

You usually must be unemployed through no fault of your own. In most states this means you lost your job because there was not enough work.

Able, available and looking for work

You must actively look for work every week and report your work-search activities when you request payment. CDLE recommends at least five activities a week, such as applying or interviewing for jobs you are reasonably qualified for, taking a required job exam, asking an employer if it is hiring, or using reemployment services. If you are job-attached (returning to your employer within 16 weeks) or union-attached, your work search may be waived.

Records to keep

Document your work-search activities and save the records. CDLE can audit and verify them at any time for up to two years from the start of your claim.

Law: C.R.S. 8-73-107(1)(c)

Official source: Source page

To be paid for a week, you must be able to work, available to work and actively seeking work.

Law: 42 U.S.C. 503(a)(12)

Noncitizens

What the state says

You must be legally authorized to work in the United States to receive benefits.

Free help

Call 1-800-388-5515. Legal aid and other free help in Colorado → Official sources →