- Unemployment benefits are paid for by your employer, and distributed by individual states. When national unemployment rates are high, Congress may vote to distribute additional funding to those states with the greatest need. When this occurs, the total benefit period is extended beyond the standard 26 weeks in most states -- sometimes by several months -- depending on the severity of unemployment in a particular state. Applicants are required to file an additional application for benefits beyond the state maximum.
- The period of employment used to qualify for unemployment is referred to as the base period, and is equal to one year. It does not, however, include the business quarter that is in progress when the applicant applies for unemployment. States typically use the earliest four or five completed quarters of a calendar year when determining unemployment eligibility. States that require an applicant to have worked a certain amount of time during the base period usually require two quarters of work, or six months.
- Some states require a certain amount of earnings to qualify for unemployment. Some states recognize that applicants may not have enough hours or earnings to qualify for unemployment benefits based on the earliest four quarters of the base period. These states use the last four quarters of employment to assess eligibility.
- Each state has its own requirements concerning unemployment eligibility, so your particular state may require you to have worked more or less than 6 months in order to receive unemployment. In the state of Pennsylvania, applicants only need to have worked for 4 months to qualify for 16 weeks of benefits. Likewise, the state also allows those who have worked only 18 weeks to claim 26 weeks of benefits. You should contact your state labor or employment department for requirements specific to your state.
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