Department of Labor and Workforce Development | What is Needed to Qualify? Did You Earn Enough?

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What is Needed to Qualify? Did You Earn Enough?

To be eligible for unemployment benefits, you must have worked at least 20 base weeks in covered employment or you must have earned $7,300. For weeks worked in 2011, 2012, and 2013 the amount is $145. These wages must have been earned during a 52 week period that is called a base year.

Base Year Period

Your regular base year period consists of 52 weeks that is determined by the date of your claim. The chart below shows what your regular base year period would be if you filed your claim any day between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013.

If your claim is dated in:	Your claim is based on employment from:
January 2013 February 2013 March 2013	October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012
April 2013 May 2013 June 2013	January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012
July 2013 August 2013 September 2013	April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2013
October 2013 November 2013 December 2013	July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013

Example: Mary Jones filed her unemployment claim as of May 5, 2013. Her month and year appear in the second box on the left of the chart. This means that her Base Period is from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012.

Alternate Base Year Period

If your earnings during your regular base year period do not meet the qualifications for a claim, earnings in other base year periods will be reviewed. You may qualify for benefits if you worked at least 20 base weeks (a base week in 2011, 2012, and 2013 is minimum weekly earnings of $145), or a total of $7,300 in any one-year period in the last 1 1/2 years (last 18 months)for a claim dated in calendar year 2011.

There are two alternate base years (one-year periods) within the last 18 months that we check to qualify you for a claim. You cannot choose which alternate base year or which calendar quarters to use to qualify for a claim. Once your claim becomes valid, that is the base year you must use on your claim. If you still do not qualify for a claim using the first alternate base year, then we check using the second alternate base year.

Alternate Base Year #1 consists of the four most recently completed calendar quarters preceding the date of claim.

If your claim is dated in:	Your claim is based on employment in the Alternate Base Year #1 from:
January 2013 February 2013 March 2013	January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012
April 2013 May 2013 June 2013	April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2013
July 2013 August 2013 September 2013	July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013
October 2013 November 2013 December 2013	October 1, 2012 to September 30, 2013

Alternate Base Year #2 consists of the three most recently completed calendar quarters preceding the date of the claim and weeks in the filing quarter up to the date of the claim. This alternative base year will contain less than 52 weeks.

If your claim is dated in:	Your claim is based on employment in the Alternate Base Year #2 from:
January 2013 February 2013 March 2013	April 1, 2012 to Date of Claim
April 2013 May 2013 June 2013	July 1, 2012 to Date of Claim
July 2013 August 2013 September 2013	October 1, 2012 to Date of Claim
October 2013 November 2013 December 2013	January 1, 2013 to Date of Claim