When a person attends school, he may or may not be eligible for unemployment benefits. This is because, to receive unemployment benefits, he must not just be simply out of work. He must also meet a specific set of criteria. In Florida, a student may be disqualified for several reasons, including being unable to seek work while attending classes or unable to take an appropriate job offered to him.
Unemployment Eligibility
In order to receive unemployment benefits in Florida, a person must meet all of the eligibility criteria laid out by the state. Among the most important requirements are that the person has been recently laid off from a job, that she is able to search for work while she receives benefits, that she search for work daily and that she immediately accept any job that is offered to her. If the person fails to meet these requirements, she will not receive benefits.
Students
A student may fail to keep his benefits if the state agency administering the benefits believes that attending classes and doing homework and other assignments will get in the way of that student's job search. In addition, if taking classes prevents a student from accepting a job -- for example, if he is too busy during the day to take a nine-to-five job -- then he will also be rendered ineligible.
Considerations
Florida supports workers who are attempting to return to school to improve their jobs skills and increase their chances of finding a job. Therefore, if a person takes part-time classes, she will likely not be rendered ineligible, as she will continue to look for work. Also, Florida does not count student financial aid as a form of income, meaning that the receipt of this money will not jeopardize her receipt of unemployment benefits.
Solutions
In order to increase the chances that he will qualify for unemployment, a Florida student may wish to schedule his classes in the evening. This way, he will better be able to convince the state agency responsible for issuing benefits that attending classes will not interfere with his ability either to find a job or to take an acceptable job if it is offered to him.
