Can You Collect Unemployment in Kentucky when Your Contract Expires?

Kentucky provides unemployment benefits to many of those seeking work.

Unemployment insurance is provided by each state to help compensate a resident while he is looking for full-time work after his previously job ends involuntarily. In Kentucky, unemployment insurance is administered by the Office of Employment and Training in the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet. Kentucky Revised Statutes prescribe who is eligible to make an unemployment claim.

Eligibility

To be eligible for unemployment, KRS 341.350 requires that the individual be available for full-time work and be making reasonable efforts to find work. Unemployment insurance is available to most Kentucky residents who are involuntarily separated from work. The individual must have been fired for reasons other than misconduct or dishonesty. An individual is eligible for unemployment if he voluntarily leaves a job with good cause. Resigning for personal reasons may disqualify an individual from receiving unemployment.

Contract Employees

If a person's employer pays unemployment insurance premiums to the state, he may receive unemployment benefits when the contract term ends. State courts have ruled that the ending of a contract term is considered involuntary discharge. If the individual is employed under a professional services contract, however, and provides contract services through his own business, such as a consulting firm, Kentucky state law prohibits him from collecting unemployment. Self-employed individuals and business owners are not eligible for unemployment.

Monetarily Valid Claim

In addition to the foregoing, the state determines your eligibility for unemployment based upon wages earned in the individual’s base period, which is defined as the first four of the last five calendar quarters before the unemployment claim is filed. To have a monetarily valid claim for unemployment, the individual’s wages must meet the following requirements. The individual must have earned at least $750 in wages during one of the quarters in the base period. The total wages earned during the base period must equal at least 150 percent of the wages earned in the highest quarter. Total wages earned outside of the highest quarter must exceed $750.

Eligibility Review

While collecting unemployment, a claimant will periodically need to complete an eligibility review. During this review, a counselor from the Office of Employment and Training will discuss the claimant’s job search contacts and help connect her with job seeker resources. The counselor will assess the claimant’s availability for work and the reasonableness of her goals. When the state selects the claimant for an eligibility review, it will not pay further benefits until the review has been satisfactorily conducted.

References

• Commonwealth of Kentucky: Your Rights and Responsibilities While Claiming Unemployment Insurance Benefits (PDF)
• Kentucky Office of Employment and Training: Unemployment Insurance Questions
• Society for Human Resource Management; Expiration of Contract Term is Not Voluntary Exit From Employment; Joanne Deschenaux; May 2008