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How to apply for unemployment (and what then?)
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Unemployment lines from the PA Dept. of Labor
The first thing to know about applying for unemployment is how easy it is. The Department of Labor makes the process as straightforward and unintimidating as possible. While our ancestors had to stand in line -- wearing hats! -- these days, we don't even have to leave the safety of our living rooms or our pajamas.
In my case, living in New York City, I applied for unemployment through the NY Department of Labor website, which has excellent instructions for how to file a claim. You can use a phone, if your pirated internet connection isn't working, or, if you're still solvent enough to pay Time Warner, you can use your computer.
How do you know if you qualify?
You'll need to have worked a certain consistent length of time, although not necessarily with one employer, and to have made a certain (relatively low) amount of money. You'll also need to have been laid off or let go; if your employer tells the government that you were stealing staplers or surfing porn and so had to be fired, you can be denied.
And you can't have quit. Sorry, folks. Them's the breaks.
What do you need to file a claim?
- Your Social Security number
- Your driver's license or Motor Vehicle ID card number (if you have either one)
- Your complete mailing address and zip code
- Telephone number where we can contact you between 8am-5pm, Monday through Friday
- Your Alien Registration card number (if you are not a U.S. Citizen and have a card)
- The names and addresses of all employers for whom you've worked within the last 18 months, including those employers in another state
- Employer Registration number or Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) of your most recent employer (FEIN may be found on your W-2 forms) (if you have either)
- Your copies of forms SF8 and SF50, if you had federal employment within the last 18 months
- Your copy of your most recent separation form DD 214, if you are an ex-service member claiming benefits based on your military service
- If you are unable to print, have a pen and paper available to write down important information
- If you are choosing to have direct deposit of your weekly benefits, you must have a check handy in order to enter your bank routing and checking account numbers
Don't panic -- most of this stuff is right where you left it. If you used a program like TurboTax, you may have downloaded copies of past returns; if not, the site will have saved them and they will be accessible.
After you file your claim, there's a waiting week to get through, after which you'll be told whether you're eligible.
How much, exactly, can you expect to make by not working? It depends. The payouts top off at just over $400 a week, at least in New York, and they're based on the high-water mark of the salary you were making. At Job #1, I was earning, with lots of paid overtime, around $32,000 a year for a short while, so that's what the DoL used to calculate my benefits, and I received about $400.
By contrast, I was making a steady $29,500 at Job #4, the one from which I was just let go, and my benefits this time around are about $275 a week, or $1100 a month.
A princely sum it is not, but it's definitely helpful, especially since you can arrange to have these payments directly deposited into a checking or savings account. (I recommend the high-interest, online-only ING Direct, which has served me very well over the years.)
How long do the benefits last? Your claim generally covers one year, and it can change based on the information you have to supply weekly, i.e., are you working part time? making money through any other means? have you turned down a job offer? And, at least in New York, there's a caveat that you can only receive 26 times your full weekly rate. When I was being given $400 a week, then, my maximum was $10,400 in unemployment comp. After I hit that, my benefits would have stopped. Luckily I found Job #3 just before that happened.
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