# If you're offered a job but don't start for a month how does it affect your unemployment insurance **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 12, 2020, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-offered-a-job-but-dont-start-for-a-month-how-does-it-affect-your-unemployment-insurance/855499 "2020-06-12T00:56:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-offered-a-job-but-dont-start-for-a-month-how-does-it-affect-your-unemployment-insurance/855499/1 "2020-06-12T00:56:00Z")
If someone offers you a job but it doesn’t start for a month, how does it affect your unemployment compensation? Can you still claim UI until you actually start the job and start getting paid? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-offered-a-job-but-dont-start-for-a-month-how-does-it-affect-your-unemployment-insurance/855499/2 "2020-06-12T02:27:02Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > If someone offers you a job but it doesn’t start for a month, how does it affect your unemployment compensation? Can you still claim UI until you actually start the job and start getting paid? I believe you can still collect unemployment until you get paid. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-offered-a-job-but-dont-start-for-a-month-how-does-it-affect-your-unemployment-insurance/855499/3 "2020-06-12T02:30:15Z")
Are you actually performing work? Are you actually getting paid? If not, you’re not employed. If you’re laid off, you’re unemployed, even if you are given a return date. It’s no different if you’re “laid on”, with a definite start date - you’re still unemployed until you actually start. Plus, unless you have an iron-clad contract with a set in stone start date, there’s no guarantee you’ll actually start work on your putative start date, anyway. The offer could always be rescinded before you actually start. It’d be pretty silly if you could be denied UI benefits because you _might_ be employed a month from now. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-offered-a-job-but-dont-start-for-a-month-how-does-it-affect-your-unemployment-insurance/855499/4 "2020-06-12T02:41:48Z")
On the UI website you fill out your voucher each week, and one of the questions is ‘were you offered work during the previous week’. If the answer is yes I’m wondering if that disqualifies you, even though I didn’t actually work and the offer is tenuous and will not happen for weeks. Because so many people are currently out of work, its almost impossible to get anyone who works at UI on the phone to discuss these kinds of issues. And I’d rather not lose UI over a job that may or may not happen especially with the $600 bonus. I did find this for Florida, I assume its the same for my state. > **[How To Stop Filing Unemployment Claims](https://fileunemployment.org/unemployment-claims/how-to-stop-filing-for-unemployment-insurance)** > > After reemployment or retirement, you need to stop filing unemployment claims. We'll show you how to stop receiving unemployment benefits. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-offered-a-job-but-dont-start-for-a-month-how-does-it-affect-your-unemployment-insurance/855499/5 "2020-06-12T02:43:46Z")
You were not offered work _for_ the previous week. You were offered work for a week in the future which hasn’t happened yet. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-offered-a-job-but-dont-start-for-a-month-how-does-it-affect-your-unemployment-insurance/855499/6 "2020-06-12T05:46:04Z")
Used to be, you were also compensated if you were “under-employed”, which means working for a wage below your usual pay/skill level. You’re covered against loss of earnings, not loss of job. (But it’s been a long time.) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-offered-a-job-but-dont-start-for-a-month-how-does-it-affect-your-unemployment-insurance/855499/7 "2020-06-12T07:57:50Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I believe you can still collect unemployment until you get paid. Every state can be different. I think most cut you off once you start working. They don’t compensate you for the time after you are hired until your first paycheck. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-offered-a-job-but-dont-start-for-a-month-how-does-it-affect-your-unemployment-insurance/855499/8 "2020-06-12T11:29:36Z")
You qualify until you start working They ask you if you have been offered work, and then when your start date is. (I am in Florida, unemployment clusterfuck central. I have interviewed, been background checked, and peed in a cup but no starting date yet.)