Three things determine if you qualify for benefits.
1. How much money you earned in the base period (wages):
Your base period is the first four quarters out of the last five completed quarters. You must have earned at least $2,750 in wages in the entire base period. You must have earned at least $1,650 in the last six months (two quarters) of your base period. The amount of money earned during your base period must be at least 1.25 times greater than the wages of your highest earning quarter.
2. Why you are unemployed:
You only qualify for Unemployment Insurance benefits if you are unemployed through no fault of your own.
3. If you are able, available, and actively seeking fulltime work:
Your benefits could be denied or reduced if you:
- refuse a suitable offer of work,
- fail to go to a job referral made by your local office,
- cannot show proof you are seeking employment, and/or
- are temporarily not available for work due to illness or injury. Benefits can be reduced by 1/3 of your Weekly Benefit Amount for each day you are unavailable.
