Unemployment if you quit or were fired in Maine

Quit, fired or refused work

If you quit

If you quit without good cause connected to your job, you are disqualified until you earn 4 times your weekly benefit amount from an employer. At a hearing, you must show you had good cause connected to the work. The law lists reasons that do not disqualify you.

Examples the state names:

• Your own or an immediate family member's illness or disability, if you asked the employer for time off or a schedule change and it could not be given
• Moving to go with or join your spouse in a new home
• Leaving in good faith for a permanent full-time job that then did not happen because of the new employer
• Protecting yourself or your family from domestic abuse or violence, after reasonable efforts to keep the job
• Volunteering for a layoff the employer offered in writing and accepted
• Unexpected loss of child or elder care that was not your fault, with no workable alternative

If you were fired

Being fired does not by itself stop benefits. You are disqualified only if MDOL finds you were fired for misconduct connected with your work. At a hearing, the employer has to present evidence of misconduct.

If benefits are denied for the separation

Quitting without good cause: until you earn 4 times your weekly benefit amount. Fired for misconduct: until you earn 8 times your weekly benefit amount.

Refusing work

Refusing an offer of suitable work, or a referral to suitable work, disqualifies you until you earn 10 times your weekly benefit amount.

Law: 26 M.R.S. sec. 1193(1)-(3)

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: 1

You must do at least one work search activity each week and report it on your weekly certification. Activities include applying or interviewing for a job you are reasonably qualified for, contacting an employer about an opening, CareerCenter job fairs, workshops and reemployment services, and union hiring hall participation for active members. Browsing the internet or newspapers does not count. If you have a definite date to return to your old job, you may get a work search waiver covering up to the last six weeks before you return.

Records to keep

Record each activity: the business address and phone number, the contact person and the position. MDOL does random work search audits, and benefits can be denied for a week you cannot document.

Law: 26 M.R.S. sec. 1192-A(2)(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

If you are not a U.S. citizen, have your Alien Registration number and its expiration date when you file. You must be authorized to work in the United States.

Free help

Call 1-800-593-7660. Legal aid and other free help in Maine → Official sources →