Q&A: Receiving unemployment benefits – Can I take an unpaid internship?
Dec.18, 2011 in
paid internship
Question by ehl0779: Receiving unemployment benefits – Can I take an unpaid internship?
I lost my job a few weeks ago and have applied for unemployment benefits. I have been given an opportunity to take a part-time, unpaid internship. I will still be searching for a paying job during this time but I’m wondering if it will affect my ability to draw unemployment. I’m in Georgia and can’t seem to get a straight answer to my question. Does anyone know?
Best answer:
Answer by Robbie
I believe that to be eligible to collect unemployment benefits, you have to be available to work .
If your time is being occupied by an activity, then you are technically NOT available….therefore, “NO” to your question.
Add your own answer in the comments!
December 18th, 2011 at 9:04 am
To be eligible for unemployment, you must be able to work, available for work, and actively seeking work. If you are doing the internship work, you are not available for & able to work elsewhere (internships have a time commitment & usually are for a specific term, e.g. 30 hrs/wk for 8 weeks, or 10 hrs/wk for 10 months, etc) during the term of your commitment or during the hours you work there. If a job is interviewing at a specific time, you could have a time conflict in actively seeking work. Taking an unpaid internship will eliminate unemployment. They can also contest on the basis of failure to seek paid employment. If you take unpaid work, you didn’t pursue paid work.
However, if you had a part-time paying job and properly report it, if your part-time hours and earnings are low enough, you can still get a portion of your unemployment benes.