what is an unemployment claim 
an unemployment claim is a request for cash benefits made by an individual after they are laid off from their job claims are filed through state governments for temporary payments after people lose their jobs through no fault of their own the united states department of labor dol tracks the number of weekly unemployment claims it provides both seasonally adjusted and seasonally unadjusted claims numbers and also lists increases or decreases of 1 000 or more claims by state this data is reported in the media as an indication of national and state economic health 1understanding unemployment claimsunemployment claims are paid from state funds that are collected from employers in the form of an unemployment insurance tax unemployment benefits are payable for a limited number of weeks and are designed to replace a percentage of a worker s previous wages most states provide up to 26 weeks of benefits for unemployed individuals 23individuals are required to file unemployment claims with the ui program in the state where they worked claims may be filed in person online or over the phone depending on the state when a claim is filed the following information must be provided workers must also meet certain criteria to be eligible for claims they must be actual employees of the business receiving w 2 forms at year end not independent contractors or freelancers they must also have been laid off rather than having quit or been fired for misconduct 56you must demonstrate that you are actively looking for work to continue receiving your unemployment benefits 7the initial date of an unemployment claim determines the benefit year during which claimants may file weekly claims as well as the base period of the claim the base period determines the wages used to compute the weekly and maximum benefit amounts and for which employers will have potential chargeback or reimbursement liability for any benefits paid to the claimant 8only base period employers are part of an unemployment claim non base period employers have no such liability filing an unemployment claimthe time you file an unemployment claim is very important for example consider an employer who hires an employee in march and lets that individual go after 30 days if the claimant files an initial claim before april 1 the base period would not include the first quarter of that year the quarter in progress nor the fourth quarter of the preceding year the lag quarter rather the claim consists of the fourth quarter of the year before the year preceding the current year and the first three quarters of the year preceding the current year since the employer did not report wages during that base period it will have no financial involvement in the claim the same applies if the claimant waits until april may or june to file the initial claim in this case the base period omits the second quarter of the current year and the first quarter of the current year it is made up of the four quarters of the preceding year if the ex employee files an initial claim after june 30 of the current year then the employer could be a base period employer but its chargeback liability would be limited due to having paid only 30 days worth of wages 8