Unemployment Insurance Benefits

Unemployment insurance benefits are meant to help workers who have lost their job or had their hours cut. Not everyone who is unemployed can get unemployment benefits. You must be:

• Unemployed or working reduced hours through no fault of your own
• Able to work and available for work
• Actively looking for work (unless this requirement is waived)

Specific work and wage requirements also apply. Unemployment benefits are temporary—you can only receive benefits for a limited number of weeks within a year.

Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) runs Iowa's unemployment insurance benefits program. IWD has a detailed Claimant Handbook and FAQ section on their website.

What does it mean to be unemployed by no fault of your own?

Whether you are unemployed because of no fault of your own is a very fact specific question. A typical example of being unemployed by no fault of your own is if your employer made cuts to its staff and laid you off as part of those cuts.  

Under some circumstances, you may be able to get unemployment benefits even if you were fired from your job or quit your job.

If you were fired from your job

You can be disqualified from benefits if you were fired for misconduct. Iowa Code section 96.5(2)(d) defines misconduct and provides 14 specific examples of what counts as misconduct. Examples include:

• Lying on an employment application.
• Knowingly violating the employer’s reasonable rule, that the employer uniformly enforces.
• Intentionally damaging an employer’s property.
• Excessively missing work or coming to work late.
• Stealing from your employer or coworker.

If you quit your job

If you quit your job without a good reason, you probably won’t be able to get unemployment benefits. You need to have left either because of a good reason that was the fault of your employer, or because of a reason listed in the Iowa Code. Whether you left for a good reason will be very fact specific. Iowa Code section 96.5(1) provides reasons for quitting that don’t stop you from getting unemployment benefits.

For more information, visit Iowa Legal Aid’s page “Common Issues in Qualifying for Unemployment Benefits.”