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How Long Do You Have To Work To Draw Unemployment

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How Many Weeks Do I Have To Work To Qualify For Unemployment

How unemployment benefits are calculated

The unemployment insurance program is designed to provide financial support for workers who have lost their jobs. Your total unemployment benefit is based on your previous working salary. To qualify for this program, you must have worked long enough at your previous job to be considered monetarily eligible for unemployment. Your state may have additional requirements for its program.

Find Out The Unemployment Eligibility Rules Benefit Amounts And More For Florida

By Lisa Guerin, J.D.

In Floridaas in every other stateemployees who are temporarily out of work through no fault of their own may qualify to collect unemployment benefits. The eligibility rules, prior earnings requirements, benefit amounts, and other details vary from state to state, however. Here are the basic rules for collecting unemployment in Florida the state calls these benefits “reemployment assistance.” In Florida, the agency responsible for unemployment benefits is called the Department of Economic Opportunity.

What If Im A Gig Worker Or A Freelancer

Workers who are usually excluded from collecting unemployment insurance including the self-employed and independent contractors are now eligible to receive Pandemic Unemployment Assistance under the CARES Act

Heres a complete list of who is eligible for PUA. If you are able to continue working your job from home, or are receiving paid sick leave or other paid leave benefits, then you are likely not eligible for PUA.

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Reporting Work & Earnings From Self

If you are self-employed or work odd jobs, for each week that you request payment, you must report:

  • The number of hours you worked
  • All income you earned, even if you have not been paid yet, including
  • Wages before deductions such as taxes
  • Profits or earnings after subtracting expenses
  • Zero dollars earned, if you worked but have no profits to report

See also Stop Your Claim for additional information.

Who Is A Base Period Employer

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Your base period employer is any covered employer who reported wages for you during the base period of your claim. All base period employers are potentially responsible for a proportional share of charges based on the percentage of benefits reported for you during your base period.

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How Long Will Ei Benefits Last

If you are receiving regular Employment Insurance benefits, they will last between 14 and 45 weeks, depending on the following factors:

  • the rate of unemployment in the area you live in, and
  • amount of insurable hours you have accumulated in the last 52 weeks or since your last claim, whichever is shorter.

Typically, a person who worked for a long time and lives in an area with high unemployment will receive benefits for a longer period than someone who has worked a shorter time and lives in an area with lower unemployment.

When Can Unemployment Benefits Be Collected

Unemployment benefits may be collected by employees who have earned enough to qualify for benefits under their state rules. Although special regulations may be put into place during times of broad economic hardship , typically only those who have been terminated through no fault of their own may collect.

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Ive Been On Unemployment But Now My Employer Is Offering Me Part

It depends. If you take on some part-time work, you will need to account for those days that you worked otherwise you might be charged with overpayment or denied benefits.

You will lose part of your weekly benefits depending on how many days youre working. But you should still be receiving the extra $600 per week.

Segura said if youre being offered work thats comparable to your previous hours and pay rate, you should not refuse. If you do, you would be at risk of being deemed ineligible for unemployment insurance benefits.

But, she noted, if the hours, wages, or conditions offered are substantially less favorable to you, then you can make the argument that you had good cause to turn down the offer.

I would say call a legal services provider to help you figure out your options, Segura said. What might happen is that youll be denied unemployment and you can fight it. You might not get benefits for awhile while youre fighting your eligibility.

What If My Employer Reduced My Hours Significantly During The Pandemic What Can I Do

Unemployment: How many? How long?

You are only eligible for unemployment if youve lost work and are working fewer than 30 hours a week, making $504 or less. Even if your hours have been reduced, if you dont meet these requirements, you arent eligible.

Salk said: Some employers are really taking advantage of the situation, of peoples desperation.

Salk does not advise anyone to quit their job in order to claim benefits. This may result in a disqualification.

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What Wages Can Be Used To Establish A Claim For Benefits

Any wages used to establish eligibility for UI benefits must be earned in employment that is covered by the Employment Security Law. This means that the employer must be subject to UI tax. Employers who are liable under the Employment Security Law are required to post a Certificate of Coverage and Notice to Workers in their place of business.

Understanding The Base Period

To make sure applicants have done enough recent work to qualify for benefits, states look at their earnings, time worked, or both during the “base period.” In almost every state, the base period is one year: The earliest four of the five complete calendar quarters before the applicant filed for unemployment. For example, if someone files a claim for unemployment benefits in August of 2019, the base period would be April 1, 2018 through March 31, 2019.

Because the base period doesn’t include the quarter in which the applicant files for benefits or the quarter immediately preceding it, it doesn’t count the applicant’s most recent employment. In fact, it might exclude almost six months of work.

Many states allow workers to count this more recent work if they wouldn’t qualify for benefits using the regular base period. In these states, applicants can use an alternative base period consisting of the last four complete calendar quarters before filing for benefits. If an applicant filed for benefits in August of 2019, the alternative base period would be from July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019. The alternative base period isn’t any longer than the standard base period it just allows applicants to include more of their recent work in determining their eligibility for benefits.

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What Materials Do I Need

Before you sit down to complete your online claims application, gather as much information as you can about your employment. Know when your last day of work was, have as much information about your employer on hand as possible including their employer identification number, if you know it and have a pay stub nearby. If you want to do direct deposit, youll need your bank routing number and account number.

Make sure you have as many of the following materials as possible:

  • Your Social Security number
  • Your driver license or Motor Vehicle ID card number
  • Your complete mailing address and ZIP code
  • Your phone number
  • Your Alien Registration card number
  • Names and addresses of all your employers for the last 18 months, including those in other states
  • Employer Registration number or Federal Employer Identification Number of your most recent employer
  • Your copies of forms SF8 and SF50, if you were a federal employee
  • Your most recent separation form , for military service

And if youre unable to print web pages, have a pen and paper handy, too.

So Do I Just Get The Extra $600 A Week From The Stimulus I Dont Have To Do Anything Extra

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Yes, you just get it. The additional $600 per week will be automatically added to all unemployment benefits, whether you qualify for regular unemployment insurance or the newly expanded pandemic unemployment assistance.

If youre in the system to receive unemployment benefits of any kind, you will receive the extra $600 from the CARE Act each week until July 31. This also means that if you are working part time and receiving partial benefits, youll still get the extra $600. But you cant get this extra cash until youre able to successfully file your claim with the state.

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Do I Have To Look For A Job To Get Tennessee Unemployment Benefits

You must conduct a minimum of three job search activities per week to remain eligible to receive benefits. These activities can include filling out a job application, attending a workshop, making contact with an employer, attending a job fair, and other related activities.

You should also seek job search help at any one of the 95 local American Job Centers throughout Tennessee. You can look online to find the nearest location.

Can I Collect Unemployment If I Was Fired

You can collect benefits as look as you were not fired for misconduct. In Oklahoma, misconduct is defined as: an intentional act or omission which constitutes a material or substantive breach of the employees job duties, responsibilities or obligations under the employees employment contract unapproved or excessive tardiness or absenteeism indifference to, breach or neglect of duties resulting in a material or substantial breach an employees duties or responsibilities acts or omissions that jeopardize others or their property dishonesty wrongdoing violation of the law or rule or policy violation put in place to ensure the safety of others or proper job performance. OESC § 2-406 Okla. Stat. 40 § 2-406.

Also Check: How Do I Sign Up For Unemployment In Washington State

The Ultimate Guide For Unemployment In Ny

In the state of New York, if you lose your job, you can file for financial assistance to receive temporary assistance while youâre searching for a new job. Unemployment assistance gives you the financial support that you need to stay on your feet and survive the loss of a job. This Unemployment Guide for residents of New York provides all the basic information you need to access this financial assistance, maintain it, and also how to find a new job. The guide consists of 3 parts:

â Applying for Unemployment

In this section we discuss the process involved in applying for unemployment including eligibility for this insurance program, the period of time that applicants must be employed before becoming eligible to collect unemployment, and the filing guidelines you must follow to determine your eligibility. This section specifically covers the details of how to get unemployment and how long it takes to start receiving it.

â NY Unemployment FAQâs

This section of the Unemployment Guide considers questions that many people have when they are on unemployment insurance in New York. For example, many people wish to continue working part-time, if possible while theyâre receiving unemployment insurance to supplement their income. We discuss how long a person can stay on unemployment and how often to expect payments through this program.

â Jobs for Re-entry into the Workplace

What Are Work Search Requirements For Oklahoma Unemployment

People called back to work may still get unemployment benefits

You must diligently search for work while collecting benefits. You must be involved in a minimum of two search activities per week. You must keep track of your work search efforts. In person and telephone contacts should be made to a person who has hiring authority and contacts should be made for work that you are willing to accept and qualified to do, at a pay rate that you are willing to accept and in an area in which you are willing to work. Contacts cannot be repeated until 4 weeks have passed. If you are a member of a union and have a hiring hall, you must contact the hiring hall each week.

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Anything I Should Keep In Mind While Applying

Some terms or questions in the claim form may be confusing. One of those terms is lack of work.

Any kind of layoff, furlough or even a decrease in the number of opportunities for someone like an Uber driver, all count as a lack of work.

If its true for you, lack of work is the best and most clear cut option to help you get your benefits in a streamlined way, Salk noted.

Other terms that Salk said confuse people are availability and capability, especially in a time like this, when someone who is stuck at home may not feel able to work.

You have to be available to work and capable to work to get unemployment , she said. You may have kids at home, but you can technically still do work at home, so if thats accurate for you, you should choose that you are available and capable of working.

If you are technically able to do some kind of work from home, you need to select that you are available and capable of working. Otherwise, you will not be able to complete your claim online and receive benefits.

Some people are misconstruing the telework question, Segura said. On the application, it asks, Are you able to telework with pay for the same hours of your customary job? If you say yes to this question, that implies that you should be getting paid to work from home, so you will be denied.

How Long Is Unemployment Available For

Whether you are going to the office in Rochester for unemployment, youre working with the NYS Department of Labor in Buffalo, NY or youre somewhere else in the state, you will have up to 26 weeks that you can receive unemployment in a one year period.

This one year period starts right after you file for unemployment with the state, and that period determines how long you have to get unemployment. The New York State unemployment insurance program keeps a close watch on how long youve been receiving the benefits.

Each time the program for NYS unemployment claim weekly benefits that information is marked down and kept on file.

Even when you dont have to wonder about things like how to file for unemployment in NY you will still have to worry about remaining eligible for the program. You need to claim your benefits each week and prove that youre working to find a job.

If you can do those two things you could receive your benefits for up to 26 weeks. There are additional rules and requirements that go with the program though. For instance, NYS residents are allowed to exclusively try for jobs within their industry for the first 10 weeks after leaving the position while collecting unemployment benefits.

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Which Documents Do I Need To File An Unemployment Claim

As with other parts of the unemployment program, required documents vary by state, but some may ask for some combination of the following:

  • Driver’s license or state-issued ID card
  • Social Security number
  • Mailing address
  • Your previous employer’s federally issued identification number
  • Your work history over the past two years, which should include each employer’s business name and address

Remember that to continue to receive weekly benefits, you may be asked to file a new claim every one or two weeks.

Why Do I Have To Provide My Work Search Information

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State statutes require that a claimant make at least 2 employer contacts each week. Your Claimant Guidebook informs you that you must keep written record of 1) date of contact, 2) employer’s name, 3) physical, mailing or internet address and phone number, 4) position applied for, and 5) results of the contact. Your work search record can be requested at any time. Keep this information well documented and handy.

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What Are Unemployment Insurance Benefits

You are probably familiar with the idea of unemployment benefits if you are reading this article, but few people actually know what they really are.

Unemployment insurance benefits provide temporary income for unemployed workers.

To receive unemployment benefits, you must be eligible. All unemployment benefits are administered by the New York State Department of Labor and are paid for by the states employment taxes.

The New York State Unemployment Insurance Program allows unemployed residents and non-residents to receive wage compensation benefits if they meet a set of two criteria:

  • The person seeking unemployment benefits must have enough prior earnings from his or her employment job to qualify for benefits
  • Have become unemployed through no fault of their own and
  • Be ready, willing, and available to work immediately.

How Long Does It Take To Receive My First Unemployment Check

Pending any atypical delays, such as the requirement for additional paperwork, you might expect your first unemployment payment within three weeks of filing your claim. Some states have put a holding period in place that represents how long you have to wait after becoming unemployed to file for assistance.

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Are There Special Rules For Unemployment During The Covid

There are millions of employees who have had their hours cut drastically, been forced out of their jobs temporarily , or even laid off while the country is fighting COVID-19. Individual states are being offered assistance from the federal government in order to expand unemployment benefits. However, state UI responses to the crisis may vary.

The main changes in unemployment benefits at the federal level, as part of the CARES Act, include:

  • An extra $600 in weekly benefits, in addition to regular state benefit amounts
  • Additional 13 weeks of UI coverage once state UI benefits are exhausted
  • Expanded eligibility, which includes independent contractors, gig economy workers, and other self-employed workers, for up to 39 weeks of benefits

A local employment lawyer can help you understand the temporary measures enacted in your state.

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