(Pennsylvania)
Can I operate a small part time business from my home and still collect pa unemployment?
Hi,
Collecting unemployment while running a small part-time business creates the possible issue of whether you are “able and available” for work and looking for it.
The question also pushes one of my buttons about the stupidity of keeping all the same old unemployment eligibility conditions during the worst recessions in history.
Every state seems to be different as to how they decide the issue as well which only adds to the confusion.
I can only tell you from my own experience that I was concerned enough about this issue for myself that I was glad that after I started this website (a business now) I had returned to work and able to prove that I “worked” and had this website CONCURRENTLY.
That fact alone is a strong element in proving one is able and available for another job.
Additionally, at the time I decided to try to make money from this site .. both passively and through consultations .. I was in fact unemployed and collecting benefits.
In fact, at the time I did this I was about to get an extension, but opted to quit filing because of my uncertainty about eligibility conditions for a federal extension and the fact that we made a decision that we had a personal issue at home to take care of that would require me here full-time.
I happen to know that PA has rules about this subject that also exclude some whether they claim to be able and available or not based upon the type of business .. such as freelance writing.
Starting a business just like going to school may have “unemployment repercussions” for those with the initiative to be more than just an employee .. therefore my thought is every one of us should have some kind of part-time business while we have a job .. just so you can fight a stoppage of benefits and show that your small business isn’t preventing you from being “able and available for work.
Pa doesn’t address the issue in their FAQ’s but I searched for and found a PA decision because of an article I read on Rebecca VanderMeulen’s blog of a PA freelance writer. The information I found is linked to there.
My best advice is to be overly zealous when it comes to protecting your eligibility for unemployment benefits if you can’t live without them.
When a state’s fund is close to or actually, insolvent – you can no longer trust the unemployment department not to practice aggressive measures to staunch the flow of benefits from that fund. It doesn’t mean you can’t fight back though if you can prove the elements needed to satisfy the state of your ability and availability for work.
Not a pretty fact, but it’s true.
Me, I’m glad to be free of the ball and chain of unemployment benefits. Not worrying about benefits frees you to be aggressive about building your own income.