Can You Draw Unemployment If You Get Fired for Attendance? Answered

Short Answer

After being fired for attendance, you may or may not qualify for unemployment benefits depending on your state’s guidelines. While it is not impossible to be approved for unemployment benefits after firing, your state may consider absence or tardiness as an unemployment-ineligible cause for job loss. For more details, including unemployment policies by state, see below.

Table of Contents

Can You Draw Unemployment If You Get Fired for Attendance?

When an employee is terminated for attendance, unemployment approval depends on whether or not tardiness and absence qualify as misconduct according to state guidelines. Your state’s unemployment agency will decide whether you are eligible for benefits or not based on the level of misconduct your state assigns to absenteeism.

We gathered information about unemployment eligibility by viewing official policy documentation from all 50 states and contacting benefits agencies. In the course of our research, we discovered that benefits are generally available only to workers who have lost their job through no fault of their own — so attendance issues can disqualify you. However, you can apply for unemployment benefits after any instance of job loss, even if you are unsure whether you will qualify for benefits.

What Constitutes Misconduct?

All 50 U.S. states adhere to the “at-will” employment policy. This means that employers and employees are free to terminate employment at any time with no notice or reason (though there are some state and federal exceptions, such as the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993).

When it comes to terminating an employee for attendance issues, many states require employers to prove a certain level of misconduct or “just cause” for the firing, such as documentation of written and verbal warnings. Other states have a “disqualification period” during which an employee terminated for attendance misconduct does not qualify for benefits until the disqualification period ends.

What to Do If You Are Disqualified

If you feel that you have been wrongly disqualified from unemployment benefits, you can file an appeal of the original decision within the time period that your state allows. Directions for filing an appeal will appear on your notice of denial, along with the date by which to submit your appeal.

Winning an appeal after you have been denied unemployment benefits will depend on your ability to prove that your tardiness and/or absences do not qualify as misconduct versus your former employer’s ability to prove that it does.

Attendance Termination Policies by State

The table below details each state’s policies regarding termination based on attendance. You can sort the table by clicking the arrows at the top of each column. We viewed documentation from and contacted each state’s unemployment offices to confirm this information.

Keep in mind that although there are federal and state employment guidelines, states make unemployment decisions on a case-by-case basis.

State	Who handles unemployment?	Is absence or tardiness misconduct?	Disqualification period	Misconduct criteria	Length of time to appeal
Alabama	Department of Labor	Yes	None	Warnings you received and steps you took to correct the issue will affect approval or denial	15 days from mailed notice or seven days from in-person notice
Alaska	Department of Labor and Workforce Development	Yes	Six weeks	Case-by-case determination	30 days
Arizona	Department of Economic Security	Yes	None	Deliberate company absence policy violation	15 days
Arkansas	Department of Workforce Services	Yes	None	Repeated warnings with continued violations of company absence policy	20 days
California	Employment Development Department	Yes	None	Willful disregard of company absence policy more than once; your absence must be shown to cause harm to the business	20 days
Colorado	Department of Labor and Employment	No	None	None (only "gross misconduct" like stealing disqualifies you from unemployment in Colorado)	20 days
Connecticut	Department of Labor	Yes	None	Willful violation of company policy and at least three unexcused absences in 12 month	21 days
Delaware	Division of Unemployment Insurance	Yes	None	Unexcused absences; deliberate violation of company absence policies	10 days
District of Columbia	Department of Employment Services	Yes	Eight weeks following termination	Violating company attendance policies	15 days
Florida	Department of Economic Opportunity	Yes	None	Intentional, controllable, and/or deliberate unexcused absence	20 days
Georgia	Department of Labor	Yes	None	Intentional company attendance policy violation; unexcused absences after written warning	15 days
Hawaii	Department of Labor and Industrial Relations	Yes	None	Unexcused absences after written warning; deliberate disregard	10 days
Idaho	Department of Labor	Yes	None	Repeated unexcused tardiness or absences	14 days
Illinois	Department of Employment Security	Yes	None	Case-by-case basis; unexcused tardiness and absence	30 days
Indiana	Department of Workforce Development	Yes	None	Case-by-case basis; intentional disregard of company attendance policies	10 days
Iowa	Unemployment Insurance Services Division of Iowa Workforce Development	Yes	None	Repeated unexcused absences especially after repeated warnings	10 days
Kansas	Department of Labor	Yes	None	More than three unexcused absences after written warning	16 days
Kentucky	Office of Employment and Training	Yes	None	Willful violation of company attendance policies	15 days
Louisiana	Louisiana Workforce Commission	Yes	None	Intentionally violating company attendance policies	15 days
Maine	Department of Labor	Yes	None	Intentionally violating company attendance policies	15 days
Maryland	Division of Unemployment Insurance	Yes	10 to 15 weeks following termination	"Simple" misconduct including coming to work late and/or unexcused absences	15 days
Massachusetts	Department of Unemployment Assistance	Yes	None	Knowingly violating company attendance policies	10 days
Michigan	Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency	Yes	None	Three unexcused absences	30 days
Minnesota	Department of Employment and Economic Development	Yes	None	Unexcused absences	20 days
Mississippi	Department of Employment Security	Yes	None	Willfully breaking enforced company attendance policies	14 days
Missouri	Division of Employment Security of the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations	Yes	None	Violating company attendance policies	30 days
Montana	Department of Labor and Industry Unemployment Insurance Division	Yes	None	Disregard of company attendance policies	10 days
Nebraska	Department of Labor	Yes	14 weeks	Employer must prove employee willfully committed “ordinary misconduct” such as unexcused absence	20 days
Nevada	Nevada Employment Security Division	Yes	None	Deliberate disregard of company attendance policies	11 days
New Hampshire	New Hampshire Employment Security	Yes	None	Deliberate absenteeism and/or lateness	14 days
New Jersey	Department of Labor and Workforce Development	Yes	None	"Simple" misconduct such as unexcused tardiness or absence	Within seven days of receiving denial notice
New Mexico	Department of Workforce Solutions	Yes	None	Intentional, multiple unexcused absences	15 days
New York	Department of Labor	Yes	None	Violation of company attendance policies	30 days
North Carolina	Division of Employment Security	Yes	None	Violation of written company attendance policies	10 days
North Dakota	Job Service North Dakota	Yes	None	Unexcused tardiness and/or absences	12 days
Ohio	Department of Job and Family Services	Yes	None	Violating company attendance policies	21 days
Oklahoma	Employment Security Commission	Yes	None	Unexcused tardiness and/or absences	10 days
Oregon	Oregon Employment Department	Yes	None	Intentional violation of company attendance policies	20 days
Pennsylvania	Department of Labor and Industry	Yes	None	Unexcused absence following written warning	15 days
Rhode Island	Department of Labor and Training	Yes	None	Intentionally violating established company attendance policies	15 days
South Carolina	Department of Employment and Workforce	Yes	None	Intentional unexcused absence after written warning	10 days
South Dakota	Department of Labor and Regulation	Yes	None	Deliberate violation of company attendance policies	15 days
Tennessee	Department of Labor and Workforce Development	Yes	None	Repeated unexcused tardiness and/or absence; intentional disregard of company attendance policies	15 days
Texas	Texas Workforce Commission	Yes	None	Failing to give notice for tardiness or absence; attendance policy violations	14 days
Utah	Department of Workforce Services	Yes	None	Unexcused tardiness and/or absence; intentional attendance policy violations	15 days
Vermont	Department of Labor	Yes	Six to 15 weeks	Repeated tardiness and/or absence qualifies as "simple" misconduct	30 days
Virginia	Virginia Employment Commission	Yes	None	Violating company attendance policies: repeated tardiness and/or absence	30 days
Washington	Employment Security Department	Yes	None	Repeated tardy and absence after written warning	30 days
West Virginia	Workforce West Virginia	Yes	Six weeks	Deliberate violation of company attendance policies	Eight days
Wisconsin	Department of Workforce Development	Yes	None	“Willful and substantial disregard for the employer” by violating company attendance policies, not including any violations that went uncorrected by the employer	Your determination notice will advise how many days you have to file an appeal.
Wyoming	Department of Workforce Services	Yes	None	Repeated instances of company attendance policy violations	28 days

Getting Hired After Being Fired for Attendance

It is not impossible to get hired after getting fired for attendance, but it can be challenging. The following tips may help you get back on track:

Connect with your former employer, if possible. A reference from someone at the company — whether a former co-worker or former supervisor — will be better than no reference.
Network with friends and family. If someone can personally vouch for you, a potential employer may be more willing to overlook your firing history.
Be honest and positive. When asked about your previous employment, be upfront about your firing but try to keep your response positive. Relate any less-than-positive experiences as things you have learned from.
Focus on the future. While you should accept responsibility for your past shortcomings, emphasize what you have to offer a prospective employer and how you have improved.