It's Possible to Lose Unemployment Benefits -- Here's How to Avoid it

If you qualify for unemployment compensation benefits, the regular payments can be extremely helpful to you while you work to find new employment. However, it is important to keep in mind that there are several factors which can cause you to lose your eligibility and disqualify you from further payments.

There are a few initial factors which will automatically disqualify you from receiving benefits, such as voluntarily leaving your former position without good cause or having been terminated for willful misconduct. Even if you are initially found eligible to receive benefits, you may be still be disqualified if officials at the Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation Department later find that either incident occurred in your case.

You may also be disqualified if the department finds that you intentionally provided inaccurate information during the application process.

Additionally, you will lose unemployment benefits if you become incarcerated, if you leave the United States, or if you fail to register for required employment search services.

Searching for employment is an important aspect to receiving unemployment benefits, and it requires that you participate in several job training initiatives. As a result, the department has several requirements which you must follow in order to maintain your benefits. For example, you must both register for the employment search services and fulfill weekly requirements established for you throughout the course of your unemployment. Additionally, you may be selected to participate in the Profile Reemployment Program and Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment Program. Participants are selected based on the department assessment of the help they may need in finding employment. If you are selected for these groups, you must participate in order to maintain payments.

It is also important to know that if you are offered job or referred to an employment opportunity and you fail to accept employment, you may be disqualified from continuing to collect benefits. The only exception is afforded to those who have a good reason to turn down the offer. You should disclose the details of the situation to the unemployment department immediately in an attempt to preserve your benefits as you look for suitable employment.

Further, you cannot reduce the amount of hours that you are able to work, as doing so may restrict your employment opportunities.

Other disqualifying acts include fraud committed against the unemployment compensation department. Generally, fraud constitutes an overt act with the attempt to deceive unemployment officials. It is important to be completely honest when applying for benefits in order to avoid accusations of fraud.