Unemployment if you quit or were fired in Ohio

Quit, fired or refused work

If you quit

If you quit work without just cause, you cannot get benefits for the length of your unemployment. Ohio law has no single definition of just cause: it means a reason an ordinary, intelligent person would find justifiable. Generally, if you have a problem at work you must first tell your employer and ask them to fix it before you quit. Quitting because of marriage or family responsibilities brings a separate, shorter suspension.

Examples the state names:

• Leaving to enter the U.S. armed forces, if you are inducted within 30 days (or within 180 days if the military delays it)
• Accepting a separation for lack of work under a union contract or an employer plan or policy that allows it
• Quitting to accept a recall from a prior employer with better pay, hours or conditions
• Quitting a concurrent job that was much less favorable than your main job
• After your employer announced a layoff date, quitting early to take other work with better pay, hours or conditions
• Leaving because your spouse in the armed forces, NOAA or the Public Health Service was transferred too far to commute

If you were fired

If you were discharged for just cause in connection with your work, you cannot get benefits for the length of your unemployment. Wages from a job you lost because of dishonesty connected with the work cannot be used for your claim.

If benefits are denied for the separation

To end the suspension you must get a new job covered by unemployment insurance, work at least six weeks, and earn at least six times 27.5% of the statewide average weekly wage. For a quit due to marriage or family responsibilities, you must work again and earn at least half of your prior average weekly wage or $60, whichever is less.

Refusing work

Refusing suitable work without good cause, or refusing or failing to look into a referral to suitable work, also brings a suspension for the length of your unemployment, ended the same way (six weeks of work and earnings).

Law: Ohio Rev. Code 4141.29(D)(2), (G)

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: 2

Each week you request benefits you must complete two work search activities, unless ODJFS waives the requirement (for example, a short layoff with a recall date your employer reported). Acceptable activities include applying for work, sending a resume, interviewing, going to a job fair, completing reemployment (RESEA) activities, keeping an active resume and reemployment plan on OhioMeansJobs.com, attending training, contacting a hiring hall, and other good-faith efforts. Calling or dropping by to ask if a business is hiring does not count.

Records to keep

Keep a record of your job-search activities and keep it for 18 months. All activities must be documented and verifiable.

Law: Ohio Rev. Code 4141.29(A)(4), (E)

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, ODJFS verifies your status with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Weeks and wages from any part of the base period when you were not authorized to work are not counted.

Free help

Call 1-877-644-6562. Legal aid and other free help in Ohio → Official sources →