Applicants may have enough wages in their base period to establish a Minnesota Unemployment Insurance Benefit Account; however, the reason of separation from their job could make them ineligible to receive benefits. These include but are not limited to:

1. Quits: Applicants who quit employment are not eligible unless the quit falls into one of the following categories:
   
   
   • quit because of a good reason caused by the employer (one that would compel an average reasonable worker to quit)
   • quit to accept better employment
   • quit because one's serious illness or injury required quitting
   • quit part-time work if unemployment benefits are based on full-time work that was lost through no fault of one’s own
   • quit unsuitable employment within the first 30 days
   • quit unsuitable employment to enter full time reemployment assistance training
   • quit because one had been notified of layoff within 30 days
   • quit because domestic abuse of the applicant or applicant's minor child required quitting.
   • quit because of the loss of child care if reasonable efforts were made to find new child care
     
     
2. Discharged for employment misconduct: Applicants discharged for employment misconduct are ineligible to receive benefit payment. Employment misconduct means any intentional conduct, on the job or off the job that:
   
   
• displays clearly a serious violation of the standards of behavior the employer has the right to reasonably expect of the employee or,
• displays clearly a substantial lack of concern for the employment.

Inefficiency, inadvertence, simple unsatisfactory conduct, poor performance because of inability of incapacity, or absence because of illness or injury with proper notice to the employer, are not employment misconduct.

1. Examples of discharges that could potentially make an applicant ineligible are:
   
   
   • being fired for continued, unexcused absences and/or tardiness
   • using drugs or alcohol on the job
   • breaking company rules
   • willful neglect of duties
   • insubordination, theft, fighting, or harassment
     
     
2. Discharges that might affect eligibility for benefit payment include:
   
   
   • absenteeism as a result of illness
   • inability to work up to the employer's standards
     
     
3. Discharged for aggravated employment misconduct: Applicants discharged for aggravated employment misconduct are ineligible to receive benefit payment. Wages earned from this employer will be removed from the benefit account. This may cause the account to have insufficient wages to be payable. Aggravated employment misconduct is any act that is a gross misdemeanor or felony if it affected the employment.
   
   
   1. Examples of aggravated employment misconduct:
   • neglect, abuse or financial exploration of a vulnerable adult
   • theft of more than $500
   • assault and battery, arson, sabotage, or embezzlement
     
     
4. Labor Disputes: Applicants who leave employment because they are participating in a strike or are a member of a striking union at the establishment where they were employed, are ineligible to receive benefit payment during the strike and throughout the week in which the strike ends. Participation includes the failure or refusal to accept and perform available and customary work at the establishment where they were employed.
   
   
   1. Examples of labor dispute that could make an applicant ineligible:
      
      
   • Applicant is a member of a striking union, or directly interested in the labor dispute
   • Applicant is honoring the picket lines of a different striking union involving their employer
     
     
   2. Exceptions to labor dispute that do not affect eligibility for benefit payment:
      
      
   • unemployed because of a strike caused by an employer's willful failure to observe the terms of the safety and health section of a union contract
   • discharged prior to the start of the strike or labor dispute
   • unemployed because of a lockout
   • laid off due to a strike against the employer (in this case, the applicant is ineligible through the end of the week in which the strike begins)

If it is determined that an applicant is ineligible to receive benefit payment because of a job separation, a determination will be mailed explaining the reason for the denial. Applicants can be eligible again for payment during their benefit year by finding new work and earning gross wages of at least eight times their weekly benefit, and then be unemployed through no fault of their own. This work must be for an employer who pays into the unemployment insurance program fund or for a railroad that pays into the railroad unemployment fund. An applicant who is denied benefits due to a labor dispute, will remain ineligible for as long as the strike is in progress.