Unemployment if you quit or were fired in Minnesota

Quit, fired or refused work

If you quit

If you quit, you are not eligible unless your quit fits one of the exceptions in the law. DEED asks you and your employer why you left and mails a determination.

Examples the state names:

• A good reason caused by the employer that would make an average reasonable worker quit
• To accept better employment
• Your serious illness or injury, or to care for an immediate family member who is ill or disabled
• The job was part time and your base-period wages are from full-time work you lost through no fault of your own
• The job was unsuitable and you quit within the first 30 days
• You were told you would be laid off within 30 days and quit before the layoff date
• Domestic abuse of you or your minor child
• Loss of child care after reasonable efforts to find new care
• Your spouse's job location changed

If you were fired

If you were discharged for employment misconduct, you are not eligible. Employment misconduct means intentional, negligent or indifferent conduct that seriously violates the standards your employer has a right to expect. DEED lists inability to meet performance standards, ordinary errors, inefficiency, honest mistakes and absence for illness with proper notice as examples that probably do not count. For aggravated misconduct (an act that would be a gross misdemeanor or felony), wages from that employer are also removed from your account.

If benefits are denied for the separation

To become eligible again during your benefit year, you must work in covered employment and earn at least half of the wages needed to set up a benefit account, then become unemployed through no fault of your own. DEED says this means wages of at least $2,000.

Law: Minn. Stat. sec. 268.095

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

Each week you must be able and willing to start suitable work right away and make a serious effort to look for work, even if you have a part-time job or expect to return to a seasonal job. If DEED approves full-time training, the training replaces the work search. Hiring-hall union members in good standing do not search on their own.

Law: Minn. Stat. sec. 268.085, subd. 1

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. If you are not a citizen, DEED verifies your work authorization; have your work authorization document when you apply.

Free help

Call 1-877-898-9090. Legal aid and other free help in Minnesota → Official sources →