How to Calculate If You Qualify for Unemployment

When you lose a job through no fault of your own, you may be ready to submit your initial application for unemployment benefits in your state. While your separation from your job must be due to no fault of your own, it is not the only qualification for receiving unemployment benefits. This is true for any state in the U.S. In fact, how much money you earned from your employment and when you earned those wages also factors into unemployment qualifications.

• 1

  Use a calendar to determine your base period, which is used for unemployment benefits compensation calculations. The base period is typically the first four quarters of the last five completed quarters. Quarters are three-month periods, which means that there are four quarters per year. The quarters are January through March, April through June, July through September and October through December.

• 2

  Calculate how much you earned in the first four of the last five quarters that you identified. Use your paycheck stubs or W-2s for your calculations. If you can't find your paycheck stubs, you can use the W-2s, but your calculations won't be as accurate.

• 3

  Look at the four quarters to see if you earned at least $1,700 over one of the three-month periods. Typically this the minimum amount to qualify, but it is different in some states. For example, in Wisconsin it is just $1,350. If you meet that qualification, look at the quarters to see if you earned wages in at least two of those quarters. This is typically the other qualification in regards to wages earned during the base period.