ProFeds Founder, Chris Kowalik, discusses the opportunity for many federal employees to collect unemployment if they lose their job due to the Reduction in Force.
Key takeaways:
- Who may qualify (and doesn’t qualify) for unemployment
- Where employees go to file for unemployment
- How unemployment benefits may be affected by other payments received
To Watch on YouTube, CLICK HERE
Additional Resources:
- Link to full RIF training series: FedImpact.com/RIF-training-series
- USA.gov Unemployment Benefits Guide: https://www.usa.gov/unemployment-benefits
- U.S. Dept of Labor Unemployment: https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/unemployment-insurance
- Local workshop locations and dates: FedImpact.com/attend
- To be introduced to a local financial professional: FedImpact.com/request-to-meet
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Transcript of this episode coming soon:
Originally released on 2/3/2025
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With all this talk about the reduction in force, you might be curious how unemployment plays a role in all of this. And if so, what causes you to be eligible for unemployment? That's what this episode is going to be all about.
Hi, I'm Chris Kowalik of ProFeds and welcome to the FedImpact Podcast where we offer candid insights on your federal retirement.
Reduction in Force – Can I File for Unemployment?
Unemployment benefits can only be payable if you've been involuntarily removed from your position without an entitlement to a retirement. Very, very important that you realize you're going to file this with your state because that's where the unemployment insurance is really held. It's important that we understand how those benefits can be affected.
If you are fired and you receive severance pay, your unemployment benefits will likely be reduced because of the severance pay that you're receiving. Every state has a little bit different rules, and so we want to make sure that you understand to go look in the state in which you live and make certain that you fully understand how that works for you.
Get Connected & Next Steps
We have put a link to the Department of Labor and some other resources with respect to state unemployment benefits and how to get directly to your state and be able to see all the resources that they have for this right in the show notes.
If you happen to be watching this video from our website, you'll be able to have instant access to the show notes, but if you happen to be on YouTube or any of the other podcast platforms, it might be a little bit more challenging to get it.
You can always pull out your phone, text the word podcast to 224-444-6144. You'll have a link right to the podcast, you can go right to this one and be able to see the show notes with the links directly to the unemployment resources that we're referring to.
My hope is that this has been a helpful episode for you at least to get a better understanding of how unemployment insurance deals with severance pay and what it is that you might need to know if you might be in that boat.
We also have a slew of webinar replays that we have done in the past that are quite helpful for federal employees, even in times like this, where there's a lot of complexity with respect to a RIF, and we have podcast episodes and articles that we write on a wide variety of different topics. Hopefully you'll find exactly what you need in this series. Subscribe here on the podcast player that you're listening to so that more of us show up in your feed.
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