If you work part time, you may still qualify for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits. If you work full-time hours in any given week, you will be considered employed "full-time" regardless of wages, and you will not be eligible for benefits for that week. Full-time is generally between 35 and 40 hours per week.
Individuals whose benefit year has expired or who have exhausted all rights to benefits under state or federal law in their current benefit year may qualify for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC). PEUC is a 13 week extension of regular unemployment benefits.
After you have successfully completed the initial claim process, you will certify for benefits each Sunday thereafter in order to be paid. If, based on your answers to the certification questions, you are eligible for benefits that week, you should receive your benefits on the Tuesday of that week.
Full federal support of extended benefits, as described in the CARES Act, ends on December 31, 2020. That means both the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program and the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program benefits will expire by year's end.
You won't be eligible for unemployment benefits if you quit your job voluntarily, without good cause.
A civil penalty usually involves a fine, while criminal penalties can include fines, incarceration, probation, and other penalties. Individual state laws determine what penalties apply in unemployment fraud cases, and differ significantly from state to state.
We will automatically add the $600 to each week of benefits that you are eligible to receive. The additional $600 is for all approved claims and extensions with weeks available for benefits between March 29 and July 25, 2020.
Last week, Congress passed the $2.3 trillion omnibus bill, which includes more weeks of enhanced unemployment, a one-month extension for the eviction moratorium and a second round of stimulus checks for $600.
Under the federal CARES Act passed in March, however, two programs extend the window to a total of 39 weeks through Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) or Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC). However, these CARES Act programs expire at the end of December 2020.
The CARES Act established multiple programs with an expiration date of Dec. 31, 2020. This included an extension of unemployment benefits to 39 weeks instead of the typical 26 weeks established by the states.
2020 to 2021 Maximum Weekly Unemployment Benefits By State
| State | Max. Weekly Benefit Amount | State Unemployment Info |
|---|
| California | $450 | CA.gov EDD details |
| Colorado | $618 | CO Department of Labor and Employment |
| Connecticut | $649 (Individual) up to $724 (w/dependents) | CT Department of Labor |
| Delaware | $400 | DE Division of Unemployment Insurance |
Here are the 10 states with the highest unemployment benefits:
- Massachusetts ($742)
- Minnesota ($683)
- Washington ($681)
- New Jersey ($677)
- North Dakota ($633)
- Illinois ($613)
- Connecticut ($598)
- Oregon ($590)
Arizona, California, New York, Rhode Island and Tennessee are among the first states to begin paying a $300 weekly boost to unemployment benefits. The $300 enhancement was offered by the $900 billion Covid relief law signed by President Donald Trump on Dec. 27.
In May, the House of Representatives passed a $3 trillion proposal called the HEROES Act, which would extend the $600 enhanced unemployment aid until January 31, 2021.
The additional $600 in weekly jobless benefits provided by the federal government is officially set to end July 31. But states will pay it only through the week ending July 25 or July 26, a significant blow to unemployed workers counting on that money to bolster state benefits that average just $370 a week.
The $600 unemployment insurance payments are deemed taxable income and so must be declared on next year's tax return (for 2020). If you have received UI payments for the entire 14 weeks that will be equivalent to $8400 in taxable income – on top of any other state unemployment benefits you might have received.
