Qualify for Unemployment Insurance Benefits
With unemployment in the United States approaching a 20 year peak, the question of how to qualify for unemployment insurance benefits is a question more and more people are having to answer.
The answer is that every state is difference. All have different specifics in their state laws regarding unemployment insurance benefits. However, there are a number of qualifications that all states share.
Some of the standard qualifications include:
~ Becoming unemployed through no fault of the worker
~ Individual must have worked the state minimum period, generally 4 of the last 5 quarters.
~ Should contact the State Unemployment Office immediately upon severence, even if there is a waiting period for benefits.
~ Include accurate employer information on the initial claim to speed processing.
~ Filing in the state you worked. If you move, you must contact the local unemployment office for help filiing inthe state you worked.
You must ensure that you have accurate documentation of your current earnings in order to maximize you eligible payments. Generally, there is also a dollar value of earnings that sets a base for unemployment benefit qualification. You must have earned a certain minimum amount. The first step to qualifying for unemployment benefits after you lose your job is to contact your unemployment office and file a claim. You may be told that there is a waiting period, and that you must return once the waiting period is complete. Generally the waiting period is one to two weeks. Unemployment insurance is not calculated based on you household needs, but on prior earnings.
It is important to understand that most states do share common disqualifications for unemployment benefits. These disqualifications include:
~ Quitting without a good cause attributable to employer malfeasance
~ Discharge for misconduct
~ Discharge for violation of a uniformly enforced rule
~ Discharge due to a felony or misdemeanor conviction
~ Employees such as teachers who reasonable expect recall for the next season
~ Failure to actively seek work
~ People who refuse call back to a prior employer
~ People who are full-time self-employed during claim period
~ People with part-time work whose compensation exceeds their benefit rate
~ Participation in a strike or other labor action that results in unemployment as part of a collective bargaining action
~ People who fail to report to the State Unemployment Office when directed to do so
What is also becoming more and more common is the ability to file for unemployment insurance benfits on-line. This is a huge advantage at a time where your money may be tight. Instead of physically reporting to the unemployment office, a job seeker can save their precious tank of fuel for going to a job interview instead of visiting the unemployment office to file for benefits. Once you have qualified for unemployment, the usual limit to collect benefits is 26 weeks. However, during periods of high unemployment, the government can chose to extend that period.
Unemployment benefits do not stop with the money paid to the job seeker. Non-monetary benefits that an unemployment office may offer include job banks, resume writing assistance, and in some cases job training. It is important for job seekers to explore what non-monetary unemployment benefits are available in their area. Even if you are disqualified from recieving the monies afforded to unemployment insurance benefits, the non-monetary services may get you back on the road to success. In the end, the key is to be the type of worker who loses their job due to a lack of work scenario, and not for cause. The rest of the qualification is following the rules and instructions of your local unemployment office.
