Am I eligible for unemployment benefits in Arizona?

Question

Accepted Answer

Eligibility is determined week by week: you are eligible for Arizona unemployment benefits for any week only if the Department finds that you registered for work and continued to report at an employment office as directed, filed a claim as prescribed, are able to work, are available for work and made a systematic and sustained work search (at least one job contact per day on four different days of the week), have been unemployed for a one-week waiting period, and meet the base-period wage requirements for insured work . You are disqualified if you left work voluntarily without good cause connected with the employment or were discharged for wilful or negligent misconduct connected with the employment — either bar lasts for the week it occurred and the rest of your unemployment until you have earned wages equal to five times your weekly benefit amount — and leaving because of transportation difficulties counts as leaving without good cause unless your travel exceeds the normal practice in your occupation or you show compelling personal circumstances, such as a commute over thirty miles or over an hour and a half . You are also disqualified for any week for which you receive or seek unemployment benefits under another state's or a United States unemployment law (unless that agency finally determines you are not entitled to them), for the week your unemployment begins and up to three additional weeks if it is due solely to a customary suspension of operations at your factory, plant or premises, and for any week in which you are incarcerated . You may not be disqualified on the basis of your separation if you left due to a documented domestic violence case under § 13-3601 or § 13-3601.02 or were terminated for not receiving an employer-required COVID-19 vaccine or booster, and National Guard or reserve activity on not more than one weekend per month does not make you employed or unavailable for work .

Whether you qualify depends on facts not included in your question — your recent earnings and why your employment ended — so if you share those details I can compare them to the rules above, and a licensed Arizona attorney can advise on your particular claim.