Additional Resources

If you need help paying for housing, utilities, and food, or other resources, these programs and organizations can help.  

While you're looking for a permanent job, you may need to supplement your unemployment insurance income with a side gig (also called a gig job).  Examples of popular gig jobs include  Uber and Uber Eats, Lyft, Amazon Flex, Grubhub, Doordash, Postmates, Tomsguide.com, Care.com, Caviar, Fancy Hands and AirBnb.

Gig jobs give you the flexibility to work when you want to without committing to a set schedule. Gig jobs can give you the maximum scheduling flexibility for setting up interviews and networking opportunities in search of permanent work while earning extra income.

The local workforce center can help you identify these opportunities and work with you on your resume and to contact potential employers but is focused primarily on helping you find permanent employment at a livable wage in an industry that is growing. Contact your local workforce center for additional help.

Please be aware that earning additional income while receiving unemployment insurance benefits may lower the benefit amount you receive in the week in which the wages are earned.

If you participated in a company-sponsored retirement plan (such as a 401K, IRA, or pension plan), you must decide what to do with the funds when you leave the company.   

There are several options. You can: 

• Leave the funds in the company plan;

• Roll them into another plan;

• Or cash out a portion or the entire amount.

Each of these decisions may have an impact (positive or negative) on your taxes, penalties, and unemployment insurance benefits,  so learn as much as you can before making these decisions. Learn more about retirement fund options after a layoff.

If you have an entrepreneur bent, a furlough or layoff may be a great opportunity to explore the business you've always wanted to start or expand a business you may have already started. The Small Business  Development Center near you and SCORE mentors can provide training and assistance starting or growing a new business.

Colorado uses an at-will employment rule, meaning that the employer or the employee can terminate the employment relationship without cause or notice. However, this rule has its limitations. 

The Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification (WARN) is a 1988 law requiring companies with 100 or more employees conducting closures and mass layoffs to provide a 60-day advance notice to their employees, the State Dislocated Worker Unit, and the local elected official.  There are some situations where companies are exempted. These include companies affected by natural disasters, a faltering company, or an unforeseen business circumstance.

Understand your Rights under WARN 

If your company did not provide the proper notice, you can seek damages and back pay in the US District Court. To better understand your rights under the WARN Act, and to know what to do next if you think your rights were violated, read  WARN: A Worker's Guide to Advance Notice of Closings and Layoffs available from the U.S. Department of Labor.

If you regularly telework full-time from your residence in Colorado for a company that is located in another state, for the purposes of WARN, your employment site is typically the place from which you get your assignments, and not your personal residence. A US District Court judge may ultimately need to make the final decision.