In the US, unemployment payments are not benefits. They are an insurance payment. That is why it is called unemployment insurance and premiums are paid while one is working. The premiums are a percentage of the wages paid and required of the employer by law. UC is designed to protect the worker from loss of job due to no fault of their own. That's why I get a little concerned when people use the term "fired" too loosely. There's a difference between being fired from a job and being laid off. Getting fired may disqualify an employee from collecting on UC claims unless they can show that they were not at fault.
Here's an example. My wife was fired from her job at a local convenience store this past April. She was involved in an altercation with a customer for past personal reasons not related to her job. From 199 - 2003 she owned a bar/restaurant and he was found guilty of robbing her bar back in 2001 of over $4,000.00. When she encountered him at her job this spring, she approached him about the money he owed her from the robbery. I guess they had a few words and then later he called her employer's corporate office and filed a complaint against her. They fired her without explanation.
The thing is, she had already finished her shift and was not working at the time but she was still in uniform and was still on the company's property so they felt she was representing the company, which is typical. Well, after some coaching from me and our daughter, she wrote a heartfelt letter of apology and asked for her job back or at least for them to finalize the paperwork so she could collect UC insurance. Eventually they did help her with the UC and in the end they rehired her again.
