When Does an Employee Become Eligible for Unemployment Benefits in Kentucky?
Even if you perform your job well, you can lose it because your employer doesn't have the money to keep you on or closes your work location. When you lose work through circumstances beyond your control, you can make an unemployment claim to your state's labor office. Kentucky's Office of Employment and Training (OET) administrates the state's unemployment insurance plan. According to its guidelines, the date you become eligible for unemployment depends on your last day of work.
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Job Separation
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You can be eligible for Kentucky unemployment benefits as soon as you separated from your job, as long as you meet the qualifying requirements. Some states make you serve one full week of unemployment before you are eligible to collect benefits, but Kentucky does not. You can apply for benefits the day you leave your job, and you begin accruing the benefit the next day.
Severance Pay
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If you receive severance pay from your former employer, it changes your actual date of unemployment. Severance pay is any money you receive above and beyond the money you're entitled to as a benefit from your employer when he terminates your job. Usually, it's equivalent to your salary for a few weeks or months and helps you adjust to being unemployed. Since severance pay is actual salary, you aren't considered unemployed until your severance pay runs out. If your last day of work is March 1 but you receive two weeks of severance pay, your official last day of employment is March 15 and you become eligible for Kentucky unemployment on March 16.
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Application
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Although the earliest day you can become eligible for Kentucky unemployment is your first day after your job separation, you won't begin collecting unemployment until you apply for the claim. You can apply through the OET website or by calling the telephone claims line. If you choose to wait several weeks after your job separation, that's when you become eligible for benefits. You won't be able to collect for the time that passed between your job separation date and the day you applied for benefits.
Appeal Process
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Although you may become eligible for Kentucky unemployment benefits right away, when you actually begin receiving payments depends on when your claim is approved by the OET. If your employer appeals your claim or you have to file an appeal because your claim is denied, it can take several weeks to complete the appeal process. During this time, you won't receive any payments. If you continue to certify by calling into the system or logging into the website every other week to answer questions about your job search and your income, you'll receive those weeks of benefits if and when your appeal is granted.
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