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I can't take credit for this one. Macj282 posted a link in another forum for military spouses, and I was exploring his link and I found this!
I have been in the military for 10 years and I didn't know about this. I mentioned it at work today, and no one knew about it! I wanted to pass the word...
Most states allow spouses to collect unemployment benefits if they had to quit due to their husband/wife having military PCS orders.
This is contrary to the wide belief that you can only collect if you are fired.
I've known about this for years and have indeed collected unemployment each and every time we PCS'd. In most cases you are also able to take money out of your 401K in order to help with the move and getting situated without paying a penalty.
I am most surprised to hear that many people are uninformed about this basic 'right' of Military Spouses. I know that most employers will not volunteer this information but I know that I was taught this when I first married my Hubby and attended the 'classes' that were offered to new spouses. Are these 'classes' no longer offered (we are now Retired and out of the loop)?
Maybe I have just missed the boat, but many of my closest NCO friends and coworkers did too. Perhaps I was told before I had a spouse or subordinate, and didn't pay heed. Seems that people aren't too surprised since no one is interested in the thread. Maybe I'm the the only one doggie paddling next to the boat! LOL
dmarie-
I will say that I am very happy that you have been posting things like this. It is very informative and I am sure that it will be helpful to many spouses who are unaware of these types of issues.
Maybe I have just missed the boat, but many of my closest NCO friends and coworkers did too. Perhaps I was told before I had a spouse or subordinate, and didn't pay heed. Seems that people aren't too surprised since no one is interested in the thread. Maybe I'm the the only one doggie paddling next to the boat! LOL
I did not realize it was as widely available as you pointed out. I thought few states did it.
My question would be- which state do you file in? The losing state or gaining state?
I have never had to do this - the only time I was possibly eligible was when I graduated college and moved to follow my husband, who I had married 3 mos earlier, and had PCSed 5 mos earlier. Unfortunately, the kind of work I was looking for was not the kind of work I had been doing to put myself through college, and there wasn't a whole lot of income to make up for anyway, and I ended up using the local unemployment office more for job searching and typing speed tests etc... and never actually collected.
lisdol-
I always filed in the losing State since that was where I had been employed. Luckily, these days everything is by phone or computer so filing, reporting weekly and collecting is much more simple than it used to be.
Just make certain to check with the State Labor Board (or whatever they call it) to check out their filing & reporting standards.
It really helps since you have an income while searching for a new position.
I did not realize it was as widely available as you pointed out. I thought few states did it.
My question would be- which state do you file in? The losing state or gaining state?
I have never had to do this - the only time I was possibly eligible was when I graduated college and moved to follow my husband, who I had married 3 mos earlier, and had PCSed 5 mos earlier. Unfortunately, the kind of work I was looking for was not the kind of work I had been doing to put myself through college, and there wasn't a whole lot of income to make up for anyway, and I ended up using the local unemployment office more for job searching and typing speed tests etc... and never actually collected.
--and never actually collected--
After reading your post, I wonder if you were even eligible to collect unemployment.
After reading your post, I wonder if you were even eligible to collect unemployment.
Yeah I don't know. I had been working as a waitress about 30 hrs per week so my income on paper was pretty low. Add in that I would not have been seeking similar employment even if I had not moved (only difference would have been I probably would have stayed at the restaurant while looking for a "real" job) and it probably would be easy to tell me I did not qualify.
Finding a crappy job in that crappy town was not that difficult and since my previous employment had been as a waitress, its not like unemployment would expect me to hold out for a decent-paying white-collar job just because I had just graduated college.
Yet another reason why everyone should take those PCS classes offered at least ONCE instead of listening to rumor and anecdotes from other military wives. Same with the Welcome class or kit. Or the housing class or budget classes.
For instance, I was a SAHM for the majority of my time as a military wife. So, this piece of information would not have caught my attention. So, if asked by another wife if SHE were eligible, I would've told her that I'd never heard anything like that. What if, knowing I'd taken the class, this hypothetical person DIDN'T take the class? Over a 10 year stint and just 2-3 PCS's, this could've cost the hypothetical wife to lose out on 1000s of $$. Just to save herself from having to attend a 3-4 hour class. Hypothetically speaking. Of course. This doesn't mean to say that I told Stephanie that she didn't ... well, um... perhaps she should've just gone and found out for herself!
I HAVE NOTHING TO FEEL GUILTY FOR!!!!
Hypothetically speaking, of course.
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