If you have been, or will be, separated from employment with VCU, you may be eligible for unemployment compensation. The Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) makes a determination as to whether or not any employee is eligible to receive unemployment compensation by looking at several factors, including but not limited to the factors listed below:

• The reason(s) for separation
• The employee’s earnings prior to separation
• The length of time the employee worked for their last and previous employers
• Amount of any severance paid
• Amount of any leave paid

To find out if you qualify for unemployment compensation, you should file a claim with the VEC office nearest to your home once your employment has ended. To make the claims process easier, bring a form of identification (such as a driver’s license or Social Security card) and work history (such as an updated resume or curriculum vitae) to the VEC.

Managers should be aware that any employee who has worked for VCU may be eligible for unemployment compensation. In addition, if an employee is found to be eligible for unemployment as a result of his or her separation from the university, the benefits paid to that employee by the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) are reimbursed by the university.

In general, employees will be found qualified to receive unemployment if they lose their job through “no fault of their own,” such as layoffs, hourly employees reaching 1,500 hours, expiration of grant funds or the position being abolished. If an employee quits his or her job, the employee has the burden of proving to the VEC that he or she had “good cause” for leaving. In general, good cause will only be found where the employee can show that he or she was compelled to quit his or her job.

If an employee is discharged from his or her job, the VEC will determine if the employee was terminated for “misconduct” in connection with his or her work. In these cases, the employer has the burden of proving that the employee willfully and/or deliberately violated the employer’s policies or standards of conduct that the employer has the right to expect of his or her employee, or that the employee disregarded the employer’s policies.