Department of Unemployment
Unemployment benefits have been a part of the general welfare structure of the United States since the creation of the Social Security Administration under the Social Security Act of 1935. For many decades the Social Security Administration acted as the general de facto department of unemployment for the country. However, after legislative changes made by Congress the individual states began to be charged with the responsibility of overseeing and managing unemployment benefits throughout the country while following a general set of federal guidelines regarding their individual programs. Unemployment benefits by state will vary by the number of weeks you can receive payments, the weekly benefit amount, the individual eligibility requirements and the length of time it takes to hear back on whether your application has been approved or not.
Despite these differences, your particular state’s department of unemployment will have a basic set of requirements you will need to meet. We will discuss these below.
How You Lost Your Job
The manner in which you lost your job or have become underemployed matters a great deal when you file for unemployment. First, if you quit your job you will have your application denied. Second, if you take actions in which cause your bosses to fire you the unemployment application will also be denied. Your unemployment or underemployment must be due to “innocent” circumstances that are beyond your control. Examples of this include being laid off, the company closing its doors, going bankrupt or liquidating assets to pay various debts.
How Much You Earned At Your Job
Because the compensation paid out by each individual state department of unemployment is funded by unemployment tax funds collected from employers throughout the state, you must meet certain minimum work requirements and show that your employer has sufficiently “paid into” the unemployment system. The amount of money you need to earn depends greatly on the state you are filing for benefits in. Some states will want you to have earned a flat minimum amount while others will require a minimum earnings coupled with a single sum earned during one calendar quarter prior to the time that you file for benefits.
How Many Weeks Of Benefits?
You will receive up to a maximum amount of weekly benefits after your application has been approved. The number of weeks will vary between 13 and 26 weeks and depend on the total unemployment rate of your particular state. If you use up all of your weekly benefits and still need compensation from your state department of unemployment, you can then file for federal unemployment benefits extension payments. Federal unemployment extension payments are available for up to an additional 53 weeks beyond the base state unemployment benefits.
See your particular state’s department of unemployment for more information.
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