Can I collect unemployment while traveling abroad.

I was a remote worker for the last 3 years until being fired this month. I am planning a trip to visit friends in France for a month and I have taken this trip 3 times over the last 2 years even while being employed. Can I still not collect unemployment while traveling since in my line of work (marketing) I can and have worked while traveling internationally?

Hi,

The issue – whether a claimant is able and available to accept, or go to work, is not about what we know we have done in the past to find work, or that we know our line of work is typically done, remotely.

The issue is, for an unemployment department about whether any unemployed person who applies for benefits remains able and available to accept suitable work, per the conditional requirements dictated by a state unemployment department .. not us.

So, to answer your question, no, I don’t think you should do that.

If you go to France for a month and continue filing claims for benefits, you’re ignoring the questions the state asks every unemployed person about each and every week they claim their right to benefits.

When people misrepresent information, such as claiming in the affirmative they were able and available, just know most states also have the technical ability of marketers to nail down the location someone is filing their claim from and that alone, along with the IP collected, is enough for a state to throw a flag on a claim, and maybe even suspend benefits, pending an investigation to resolve an issue of whether the claimant was in fact A&A .. per their rules, not our own ideas of what we think should be reasonable.

I know people travel while working a job remotely, from wherever they are, but that’s hardly the same as being unemployed and claiming eligibility to a week of benefits while traveling anywhere. A&A, along with other conditional eligibility requirements are addressed in a state’s claimant handbook.

If you had told me which state was in control of your claim, I would of went in search of claimant handbook, just so I could quote what it says .. since the same issue can vary, state to state.

Chris

This is a very old question about the conditional requirement to be able and available to work .. and yes, of course there are loopholes to consider.

The original question however, wasn’t about a weekend getaway, but about filing continuing claims for benefits while traveling abroad, and whether I thought an unemployment department was capable of tracking the IP address from where the person was, at the time they filed another continuing claim for benefits.

I remember thinking at the time, well it’s a good thing the’d be sending three resumes a week, as it’s also a question asked to determine if an unemployed person is complying with the job search requirements.

Yet, the question remained for even me, just how quickly can they really get back to the U.S. if they happened to be called for an interview, or offered a job that might of begun the next day.

I know I am annoying to some people when all I basically do is warn people about the unforeseen consequence. In this case, it was to stress the importance of taking the A&A requirement seriously, in that it was reasonable .. even back then (2009 .. maybe 10) that an unemployment department was capable of identifying and then flagging a claim filed online, from outside the United States.

However, if an unemployed person typically works Monday – Friday – daytime hours, I would also have a serious problem if department overreach suggests to a person the unemployment department can dictate being able and available to work, or accept new work, as being a 24/7 thing and that contradicts the unemployment statutes covering the issue.

Yet I do recall when I had to file for unemployment .. I always did it on the first day I was allowed to file a continuing claim .. and that was every other Wednesday .. and never on a weekend .. when I might be taking some well deserved time to enjoy my unemployed self.

I’ve also remember a an A&A question from someone who had gotten smacked with an overpayment, for not being able and available, after they inadvertently explained why they missed the initial adjudication call, the reason was that it took them four days out of that week to move across country .. but when they filed for that week .. they certified they were A&A.

Uh-oh.

Point being .. any unemployed person is better off, thinking through each and every answer to it’s potential implications when they certify their answers are true and accurate under penalties of perjury .. which usually turns out to be an issue to decide if the overpayment is correct, or not and whether caused by a non-fraud error, or an actual misrepresentation of material fact in an effort to obtain benefits.

For the most part, A&A question on this website, were asked in relationship to collecting benefits, while attending school.

I don’t think people are considering that you could be available for work and then travel on the weekend and submit your claim while away. Something I did myself that’s totally legit. Multiple consecutive weeks might draw attention however, and I wouldn’t recommend it.

chances are they can detect it. Well of course they can but will they check on each and every person’s claim? I don’t know but they might have some program that flags foreign ip addresses to prevent fraud. I know that NY can detect it. So I just wouldn’t risk it.
The biggest thing I would worry about is the fact you will pay it back anyway. I am hearing more and more stories where after 6months to 3 years they come back and say you never were entitled to benefits to start with and make you pay every dollar back –and to make matters worse some are even being arrested for claiming low amounts such as 1,000 or 2,000 that they were approved for but then they come back and say you were not entitled and to make examples of you to the public to ward off offenders they are giving these poor people jail time like 2 years for 1,000 measly dollars these people already paid into the system.
Can you imagine going to jail over 1,000? Car theives dont even go that long

Hi Anonymous .. you’re absolutely right and as for an additional and more cynical motivation for why the system has improved fraud detection measures .. don’t forget most states have insolvent unemployment funds .. or close to it. The FUTA mandates they borrow from the federal government to keep the funds solvent.

State can’t refill their funds on their own until people go back to work in sufficient numbers, so they can collect enough UI taxes on wages again to repay the loans and keep their fund solvent to handle the next recession.