Just to note that the OP was from over 10 years ago (and that he hasn’t posted since 2006); the thread was revived today by dlh20023 in post #17 to ask their question.
That’s a common misunderstanding. You can be fired for literally anything. “For cause” usually means you were breaking the law, or just not showing up. If you were fired because the employer didn’t think you were doing X, Y, and Z job duties to his satisfaction, that’s usually not considered your fault for unemployment insurance purposes.
I’m no expert, but I was fired once and received unemployment benefits anyway.
The general rule is that unemployment benefits are available unless (1) you abandoned or quit a job, or (2) were terminated for misconduct. That is a far higher bar than “for cause” or “for just cause.” It implies taking actions which are directly against the employer’s interests - stealing, repeated insubordination, violence, intoxication, and so on.
Yes, being fired for poor performance makes you eligible in most states. You’ll want the unemployment office to make a determination though, because I had a friend who filed and they came and took the money back later on because he had been fired for cause. In his specific case, it was always being late, which probably counts more as misconduct then poor performance.
I think what the basic idea is, is that if someone is a poor fit for a job for whatever reason, but makes a good faith effort to work but still fails, then they are unemployed through no fault of their own. But definitely apply, you could very well be eligible.
You can search specifically under ‘North Carolina’ ‘unemployment’ and ‘no fault of your own’ and a few legal sites come up explaining. For example on nolo.com:
"Under North Carolina law, the following examples will automatically qualify as misconduct, unless the employee can prove otherwise:
…
[a list of bad stuff OP didn’t do, but then also]
receiving three or more write-ups for poor performance in the 12 months before the termination."
So that last one might be a problem if 3 of the 5 times were within the last 12 months. But despite differences in state laws, which make examples from other states of limited value, a practical factor extending across jurisdictions is that the employer has to contest it, and may not. If a lawyer would tell you in a free consultation whether it was worth filing with your facts in NC, maybe consult one. But I don’t see a reason to pay for advice on this. Just apply and see.
Are zombies eligible for unemployment? (This thread was started in 2006, and was resurrected by a new poster today.)