Generally, if you have worked steadily for at least a year and lose your job, you may be eligible for unemployment. However, it should be clear that you lost your job for no grievous fault of your own, like poor work behavior, chronic absenteeism or repeated lateness. In those situations, employers may contest your right to benefits.
In addition, it's not clear whether you were entitled to take on outside projects (through your LLC) as part of your engineering work. If moonlighting was not permitted, that could present an obstacle to collecting benefits. As you can't collect unemployment when you're self-employed, it's possible that your state may consider your income through the LLC as having found another job.
Bear in mind, too, that unemployment benefits are only provided for a limited period of time, not until you find your next job. As eligibility may vary from state to state, it's best to check with your state unemployment department or a local attorney who knows this area so that you can get confirmation on whether you'll ultimately be entitled to benefits and if so, for how long.
Nina L. Kaufman is an award-winning business attorney, author and speaker. For more than 15 years, she has successfully navigated thousands of small businesses through the legal hurdles they face in starting and running their companies. Under her
AskTheBusinessLawyer.com brand, she reaches thousands of entrepreneurs and small business owners with her legal services, professional speaking, information products, and
LexAppeal weekly ezine.
