‘I’m in limbo right now’: Laid off federal workers struggle to secure unemployment benefits

By Tami Luhby and Annie Grayer, CNN

(CNN) — A month after losing her job at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Corinne Bazarnyj is still waiting to be approved for unemployment benefits.

The disabled veteran who started at the agency as a training specialist in November was caught up in the Trump administration’s mass culling of probationary workers, who typically have less than one or two years in their positions. Like many other probationary employees, Bazarnyj got a termination letter saying she’d been let go because of performance – even though she hadn’t been on the job long enough to have an evaluation – potentially making it harder for her to qualify for unemployment benefits.

“I was terminated based on performance, that is not true. So, I honestly don’t know if I’m going to get unemployment or not,” said Bazarnyj, who recently bought a house in Frederick, Maryland, to be closer to her job.

Maryland’s unemployment agency has started requesting documents about her employment, but her case remains in pending status, Bazarnyj said. Before she was laid off, she downloaded a key document, known as SF-50, that showed her wage and separation information.

Securing unemployment benefits may try the patience of many former federal workers struggling to stabilize their lives after being unexpectedly tossed out of public service. The payments can be a lifeline for those who suddenly find themselves jobless.

In addition to having to deal with performance being cited as the cause for their termination, some workers are still waiting for the employment documents they need from their agencies, which are in turmoil as the Trump administration seeks to rapidly downsize the federal workforce.

What’s more, many state unemployment offices say they are strapped for staff and resources to handle the influx in claims, which will slow down the processing of applications. A bipartisan coalition of 20 states are suing the federal government to halt further terminations and to reinstate those laid off while litigation plays out in court. Roughly 80% of federal workers live outside of the Washington, DC, metro area.

The Merit Systems Protection Board last month temporarily reinstated six probationary workers who were laid off, finding that their terminations were likely unlawful in part because the employees did not have problems with their performance.

‘People have to be very patient’

While the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees program is similar to traditional state jobless benefits, it differs in significant ways that could delay getting money into the hands of laid-off staffers, said Andrew Stettner, director of economy and jobs at The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank.

State jobless offices have the wage records of private-sector employers, but they don’t have that information for the federal government. So, the states must contact the federal agencies to verify the employment, salary and separation reason for each claimant.

At a time when federal agencies are shedding workers, this could prove challenging, said Stettner, who also served as a US Department of Labor official in the Biden administration.

Chris Wicker, who was recently laid off as the deputy director of the Small Business Administration office in Minnesota, has reached out to his agency multiple times for the documents. He’s still waiting.

“I wasn’t offboarded,” said Wicker, a veteran who received strong performance reviews in the job. “I was fired and thrown out the door like a criminal and so I didn’t get anything.”

Though employees may not yet have their documents, they should file for benefits as soon as they stop receiving a paycheck, Stettner said. In addition to the SF-50, they’ll need the SF-8 form that shows their potential eligibility for unemployment benefits and lists the name and address of the federal agency where their wage information can be obtained. They can send these forms to the state later.

Also, workers should not be concerned if their states say they initially qualify for $0 in benefits – the amount will be updated once the states verify their wages, he noted.

“People have to be very patient,” said Stettner, noting the process can take 21 days or more.

Nathan Barrera-Bunch, who worked for the VA for less than three months before being let go, filed for unemployment benefits on Valentine’s Day. He was told it will be a long wait and still has not heard anything from the Office of Unemployment Compensation in Washington.

“I don’t expect that I’ll be getting the unemployment benefits anytime soon,” Barrera-Bunch told CNN. “I’m in limbo right now.”

The poor performance citations in the termination notices of many workers, including Barrera-Bunch, could prove to be another obstacle. State agencies might consider these employees fired for misconduct and deem them ineligible for benefits, Stettner said. While the workers could fight that designation, it would still prompt delays in getting benefits if they ultimately win.

For those who successfully navigate the system, the compensation can vary widely depending on the state. Former federal workers must file in the state where their duty station was based, not where they live.

For instance, in Maryland, the maximum weekly benefit is $430 and in Washington, DC, it’s $444, according to Stettner. However, in Virginia, former staffers will only get up to $378.

But those who worked in Washington state will receive a maximum weekly payment of $1,079, while those employed in Mississippi will get only $235.

Unemployment claims rise

State unemployment agencies are already seeing the filings for federal jobless benefits multiply. In their lawsuit, the states say that many “have had to scramble and expend additional resources to identify even which agencies have conducted layoffs and which affected employees require support.”

“The federal agencies named in the lawsuit failed to provide any advance notice to California, causing significant expense and burden on the state as it scrambles to respond to the sudden mass layoffs of its residents,” Rob Bonta, the state’s attorney general, said in a statement.

Washington, DC, where a sizable share of federal employees work, saw its initial unemployment claims for federal employees climb to more than 550 one week in mid-February from double digits prior to Trump’s inauguration in January, according to the district’s Office of Unemployment Compensation.

In Maryland, more than 380 federal unemployment claims were filed in the last two weeks of February, higher than what the state’s Division of Unemployment Insurance typically sees, Dinah Winnick, spokesperson for the state Department of Labor, said in an email to CNN.

The state has had to divert personnel from other projects to respond to the mass firing of federal workers, according to the lawsuit, which noted that the division has received an average of 30 to 60 new claims every day. The flood of claims is also expected to impede the handling of the unemployment benefits applications of non-federal workers, resulting in “significant backlogs and delays.”

Virginia has received 168 initial claims for jobless benefits for federal employees between the end of January and March 1, Kerri O’Brien, spokeswoman for the Virginia Employment Commission, told CNN via email. Also, 136 continued claims were filed by federal workers who remained unemployed. That’s an uptick from the past, and the commission expects the numbers to grow.

The Virginia agency expects to be able to handle the influx since it has modernized its technology, which has enhanced processing speed and accuracy, and has implemented the ID.me identity verification tool to make it easier for people to apply online, O’Brien said. Its goal is to start payments within 21 days, though that could slip if federal agencies don’t send an employee’s wage data promptly.

Across the country, in Washington, more than 950 federal employees have filed for jobless benefits in 2025, through March 5, more than double the number during the same period last year, according to the state’s Employment Security Department. More than half have submitted applications since February 13 – an average of 25 a day.

Some states, including Maryland, Virginia, Michigan and Maine, have posted information on their websites to help federal workers apply. Virginia, for instance, created in mid-February a video tutorial explaining eligibility requirements and the application process.

Maryland posted an online FAQ site in late January to aid former federal workers applying for benefits. It notes that it typically takes at least three to four weeks for the agency to determine if a person qualifies for unemployment insurance. (The office is also holding weekly workshops specifically for federal employees and contractors interested in exploring jobs in the private sector or the state, which more than 400 people have already attended.)

When it comes to determining whether former employees qualify for unemployment benefits in Maryland, each claimant’s eligibility is determined based on specific facts about the person’s situation, Winnick said.

“Performance-based separation information is just one factor in this determination,” she added.

But if an employer states that the workers were discharged because their performance was not adequate, the state must conduct an “intensive” investigation, according to the lawsuit.

Federal agencies that have provided separation reports to Maryland have cited a variety of reasons for the terminations, including “unsatisfactory work performance,” “a permanent lack of work due to a change in Presidential Administration” and “laid off due to a reduction in force,” according to the lawsuit. In some cases, agencies said workers were not actually unemployed or had voluntarily resigned.

The Virginia commission’s website states that assistance is available to those who become unemployed “through no fault of their own.” Both the former worker and employer will receive questionnaires asking for information about the person’s employment and separation, and the worker may receive a phone call from a commission staffer to get more information.

Reasons for disqualification include quitting a job without good cause and being fired for misconduct, according to the website. Performance on the job is not mentioned.

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