Idaho Requirements for Employment Separation
- The agency that administers Idaho employment law is the Idaho Department of Labor. The Department of Labor enforces laws defining requirements for employment separation for employees and employers. The Idaho Department of Labor was created by the 1933 Wagner-Peyser Act. Unemployment insurance was created in 1935 and is administered by the Idaho Department of Labor.
- The formation of Idaho's Department of Labor was a response to unemployment during the Great Depression. Requiring the formation of state entities shifted the management of Depression-era public works and civilian relief from the federal government to the states. State enforcement of employment separation laws ensures compliance with layoff rules and employment separation rules.
- The Idaho Department of Labor ensures that employers follow federal and state requirements for layoffs and employment terminations. Enforcement unemployment insurance regulations helps to reduce unemployment fraud while ensuring that people receive proper benefits.
- Idaho employment law requires the enforcement of both federal and state laws and regulations regarding employment separations. Federal laws and regulations require prior notice by employers of larger layoffs. Idaho is an at-will state, meaning that employees working without a contract can be terminated for any legal reason and employees have the right to leave an employer for any legal reason. Employees working under a contract can generally only be terminated for breach of contract and can, in general, only leave a company for breach of contract.
- A number of employment separation laws cover Idaho. The Department of Labor must enforce notification requirements under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. The WARN act requires companies employing 100 or more people to give notice of planned mass layoffs. As an at-will state, Idaho does not require notice from either the employee of employer for individual termination. However, unemployment insurance might not be available to employees who quit without cause.
- Idaho has a number of requirements for unemployment insurance eligibility. To be eligible for unemployment insurance, you must be unemployed through no fault of your own. Becoming unemployed by no fault of your own includes being laid off or quitting your job with good cause. Being fired for misconduct makes you ineligible for unemployment in Idaho. You must have been employed by a company. Self-employment generally does not qualify you for unemployment insurance, but there are some exceptions.
