Voluntary furlough and Unemployment Benefits

[NCW20]

Mississippi:

Hey everyone,

I have an unemployment benefits question:

If you go on voluntary furlough where you are not getting paid a salary but keep benefits can you still be granted unemployment benefits in Mississippi if you file.

 

[Just Blue]

@commentator @cbg @eerelations @PayrollHRGuy

I tagged some of the volunteers that will be able to assist you.

 

[cbg]

I'll have to wait for the others; I have no Mississippi experience. One of the few states where I've never had employees.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

You are going to need to further define "voluntary furlough." Give specific details. Also is this COVID-19 related?

Getting your medical paid while off will not itself disqualify you.

 

[Chyvan]

If you go on voluntary furlough where you are not getting paid a salary but keep benefits can you still be granted unemployment benefits in Mississippi if you file.

Maybe. If by "voluntary" you mean the employer gives you the choice to come to work or not, then it depends what they tell the UI people. I wouldn't do it if I were counting on the UI money If the employer says to the UI people, "MCW20 was given the choice to work or not even though work was able, and NCW20 chose not to," I can see you getting denied. I can also see the employer saying, "We had to let X number of people go, and we accepted volunteers because someone had to go," and in that case I can see you getting UI.

If it were me, I'd always say, "I'm working until you tell me not to" unless they were making other adverse changes to the job.

 

[commentator]

File, by all means if you've already accepted this voluntary furlough. I have heard that the word in Mississippi right now is APPROVE ALL, let God sort 'em. Voluntarily furloughed due to corona virus is a little different than "just wanted to be off a while and work was slow." But.....even if you can get into the Mississippi system right now and file a claim, I CANNOT SEE any sort of serious adjudication going on of any issue. And even that doesn't mean that unemployment would work out for you, or be a good deal for you.

Because filing a cliam for benefits in Mississippi right now doesn't mean you'd be paid any benefits, even if you are approved for a LONG LONG time. They're definitely under a horrible unimaginable strain throughout that whole system of payment. So if you are able, I'd keep working. If forced to go home, told to by the employer, regardless of what they call it, it's THEIR decision that you can't work anymore, then you have to go home and try to file and worry and wait. People who haven't had to deal with it hear things like, "Oh, you just file for unemployment, that will cover people who are out, who have to care for their families, blah blah blah" and they pre assume that those things will work, that they're really there for you, that you'd receive money quickly or easily, etc. When that's NOT the case.

 

[quincy]

Here are two links, the first a link to Mississippi’s unemployment information with specifics on Covid-19 and the second to general Mississippi unemployment information:

1. https://mdes.ms.gov/unemployment-claims/covid19/

2. https://mdes.ms.gov/unemployment-faqs/

Regular weekly unemployment benefit payments in Mississippi are $30 (minimum) to $235 (maximum).

 

[commentator]

The lowest in the U.S. and before the plague, their legislators were busily creating a Florida-like scenario, where, with the lowest education rate and the highest poverty level, they were on the route to become the first state to make unemployment insurance very un-user friendly and make it almost totally impossible to draw. I have nothing good to say about that whole state's system.

 

[quincy]

The lowest in the U.S. and before the plague, their legislators were busily creating a Florida-like scenario, where, with the lowest education rate and the highest poverty level, they were on the route to become the first state to make unemployment insurance very un-user friendly and almost totally impossible to draw. I have nothing good to say about that whole state's system.

Ridiculously low. It doesn’t seem worth the effort to file.

 

[Just Blue]

Ridiculously low. It doesn’t seem worth the effort to file.

Frankly, it doesn't seem worth the effort to live in Mississippi.

 

[commentator]

After driving around in the Delta area, you get why these people invented the blues.

But heck, like my state, it's a great place to be a wealthy person of a certain color!

 

[quincy]

Frankly, it doesn't seem worth the effort to live in Mississippi.

Every state has its charm. You just have to look harder for it in some states.

That said, Mississippi is the catfish capital of the world, the birthplace of both Elvis and Oprah, and the first “teddy bear” stuffed animal was created there. And 63% of the state is forested, which is nice.

 

[Just Blue]

Every state has its charm. You just have to look harder for it in some states.

That said, Mississippi is the catfish capital of the world, the birthplace of both Elvis and Oprah, and the first “teddy bear” stuffed animal was created there. And 63% of the state is forested, which is nice.

You're a charmingly "glass half full" person, Quincy. I like that about you.