Unemployment Insurance Benefits

As the national unemployment rate has increased over the past few years, so has the popularity of both state and federal level unemployment insurance benefits programs.  Unemployment insurance offers individuals a level of general welfare when they have either become wholly unemployed or partially unemployed through a work hour reduction program the opportunity to receive a temporary income until they can find a new job to replace the lost income that resulted from the job loss or underemployment.  These unemployment programs are paying out to millions of individuals each week to help ensure they can keep a roof over their head and food on the table even though they have lost a great deal (or all) of their income.  Although the programs vary somewhat from state to state, and on the federal level, there are similarities that run throughout each program, which we will examine in more detail in this article.

The Key Requirements

In order to receive unemployment insurance benefits you will need to meet a key set of requirements.  First, the job loss or underemployment cannot have been caused by your actions.  For example, if you have been engaging in willful disobedience or purposefully acting in some way which caused the job loss or job reduction you will not qualify for unemployment benefits.  Second, you must be able to find new employment.  For people who are either planning on retiring or have become disabled and will not be seeking for a new job, they will not qualify for benefits and their UI claims will be denied.  There are a whole different set of programs available through the Social Security Administration (“Soc Sec”) for individuals who will not be seeking future employment due to disability or retirement.  See the Soc Sec website for more details on those programs.

Probably the most important requirement you will have to meet to gain unemployment insurance benefits is the past income earning test.  Each state requires you to have earned a specific amount of income during a particular time period.  In almost all instances the time period the state will use to examine whether you meet this income requirement is called the “Base Period.”  The Base Period can be defined as the first available four calendar quarters when you do not take into consideration the current quarter or the quarter immediately prior to the current quarter.  Therefore, to determine what your Base Period will be you need to disregard the current quarter and prior quarter and then count back four consecutive calendar quarters.  These four quarters will be used as your Base Period to see if you meet this important income requirement for obtaining unemployment insurance benefits.  See the rules of your particular state for more details on how much income you need to earn to receive benefits.

Extended Unemployment Benefits

All states will only provide unemployment insurance benefits for a limited period of time which is normally between 13 and 26 weeks under current law.  However, the federal government offers the federal unemployment benefits extension program where up to another 53 weeks of benefits.  If you need an additional extension of unemployment benefits after the federal benefits have run out most states will offer up to an additional 20 weeks of benefits.   All told, if you meet the right circumstances, you will receive up to 99 total weeks of benefits – almost two years worth of payments!  Keep in mind though that these payments are only temporary and you will need to find an alternative source of income following the expiration of these benefits.

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