Unemployment if you quit or were fired in Connecticut
The state's rules for quitting and for being fired are different. This page gives the state's own words.
All about unemployment in Connecticut
Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.
Quit, fired or refused work
If you quit
If you quit, you are not eligible unless you left for good cause connected to your employer or for another reason the law allows. At a hearing, you must show the reason.
Examples the state names:
- Changes in your working conditions made by your employer
- Caring for your spouse, child or parent with an illness or disability
- Loss of transportation to work (other than your own vehicle) with no reasonable alternative
- Protecting yourself, your child, spouse or parent from domestic violence, after reasonable efforts to keep the job
- Going with a military spouse who must relocate, or with a spouse whose job moved too far to commute
- Leaving part-time work for full-time work, or leaving a temporary job when recalled by your regular employer
If you were fired
Being fired does not by itself stop benefits. You are disqualified if CTDOL finds you were fired or suspended for wilful misconduct in your work, felonious conduct, larceny (property or services over $25, or any cash), or taking part in an illegal strike.
If benefits are denied for the separation
If you quit without good cause or were fired for one of these reasons, you cannot get benefits until you work again and earn at least 10 times your weekly benefit rate.
Refusing work
Refusing suitable work without sufficient cause stops benefits until you return to work and earn at least 6 times your weekly benefit rate.
Law: Conn. Gen. Stat. sec. 31-236(a)(1), (2)
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
Job contacts per week: 3
Every week you must do at least three work search activities, and at least one must be contacting an employer about a job. Other activities include job interviews, American Job Center workshops and job fairs, and networking events run by formal organizations. You may not have to search if you have a return-to-work date within 13 weeks, are in approved training or Shared Work, are on jury duty, or get work through a union hiring hall. If CTDOL selects you for the RESEA program, you must take part.
Records to keep
Enter all activities in your weekly claim, and keep your work search records for at least three years from the start of your claim.
Law: Conn. Gen. Stat. sec. 31-235(a)(2), (4)
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 get benefits.
Common reasons for a denial and what federal law says →
Free help
Call 1-800-956-3294. Legal aid and other free help in Connecticut → Official sources →
More questions about unemployment in Connecticut
Can I get unemployment in Connecticut if I quit?
If you quit, you are not eligible unless you left for good cause connected to your employer or for another reason the law allows. At a hearing, you must show the reason.
Can I get unemployment in Connecticut if I was fired?
Being fired does not by itself stop benefits. You are disqualified if CTDOL finds you were fired or suspended for wilful misconduct in your work, felonious conduct, larceny (property or services over $25, or any cash), or taking part in an illegal strike.