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 2010, 2011, and 2012 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, 2012 and December 31, 2012.
If your claim is dated in: |
Your claim is based on
employment from: |
January 2012
February 2012
March 2012 |
October 1, 2010
to
September 30, 2011 |
April 2012
May 2012
June 2012 |
January 1, 2011
to
December 31, 2011 |
July 2012
August 2012
September 2012 |
April 1, 2011
to
March 31, 2012 |
October 2012
November 2012
December 2012 |
July 1, 2011
to
June 30, 2012 |
Example: Mary Jones filed her unemployment claim as of May 6, 2012. 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, 2011 to December 31, 2011.
If you do not meet the above requirements but you worked at least 770 hours in employment involving the production and harvesting of agricultural crops during your base year, you may still be eligible for benefits.
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 2010, 2011, and 2012 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 2010.
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 2012
February 2012
March 2012 |
January 1, 2011
to
December 31, 2011 |
April 2012
May 2012
June 2012 |
April 1, 2011
to
March 31, 2012 |
July 2012
August 2012
September 2012 |
July 1, 2011
to
June 30, 2012 |
October 2012
November 2012
December 2012 |
October 1, 2011
to
September 30, 2012 |
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 2012
February 2012
March 2012 |
April 1, 2011
to
Date of Claim |
April 2012
May 2012
June 2012 |
July 1, 2011
to
Date of Claim |
July 2012
August 2012
September 2012 |
October 1, 2011
to
Date of Claim |
October 2012
November 2012
December 2012 |
January 1, 2012
to
Date of Claim |
