Unemployment Benefits Informatio

1 The “unemployment office” is now a web page and a phone number. (For longer layoffs, the former “unemployment offices”, now WorkForce Centers, have resources to help you find work.)

4 Apply, or reactivate your account, online or by phone the first week you are laid off.

5 The first week you apply and are eligible is called the waiting week and is never paid.

6 Holiday pay, sick pay, vacation or PTO pay, or working will affect unemployment benefits.
7 Payments are by direct deposit or debit card.

8 You will receive a password and instructions to call or go online every week to request
payment for the prior week.

10 With your password, you can view your payments, deductions, and balance online, as well as change your address, your bank or method of payment, withholding, etc. You can also do these by phone.

11 You cannot be paid weeks you are out of the area or otherwise unavailable for work.

12 Benefits for a week are also reduced by 55 percent of any part-time earnings that week.

Apply or Reactivate Benefits on-line at www.uimn.org - There are no in-person unemployment offices anymore. Instead, you go on-line to apply for benefits, request weekly payments, view your payment history, choose a payment method, etc. There is an on-line Information Handbook you should read and a Frequently Asked Questions section.

Apply by automated phone system - If internet is inconvenient, you can apply by calling 651-296-3644 in the Twin Cities calling area, or toll free at 1-877-898-9090 outside the Twin Cities area. You can choose from four languages: English, Spanish, Hmong, and Somali. After answering some questions with the telephone keypad, you will be transferred to a representative to complete your application.

Call the automated phone system at 651-296-3644 or 1-877-898-9090. Choose the menu option “Frequently Requested Information” and listen to the menu items. One of the last options will transfer you to staff. Staff are available Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 4:30 PM.

Your weekly amount will be half of your average weekly gross pay in your base period, (subject to a maximum of $566). Commissions, bonuses, overtime, and paid vacation all count as pay. This chart shows the base period for applications made in the four different quarters.

If the Sunday of the week you apply is between:	Your base period is the prior:
Jan. 1 - March 31	Oct. 1 - Sept. 30
April 1 - June 30	Jan. 1 - Dec. 31
July 1 - Sept. 30	April 1 - March 31
Oct. 1 - Dec. 31	July 1 - June 30

You can find out what your weekly benefit amount will be if you apply this quarter. Go to www.uimn.org and click on “Apply for Unemployment Benefits” (you do not have to continue with the application). On the page that pops up, click on “Benefits Estimate” in the upper left.

You then enter your social security number and click “Submit”. The computer accesses your wages reported by your Minnesota employers in the four quarter base period, divides the total gross by 52, and returns a weekly benefit amount that is half of the result.

You might be eligible for waiting week credit or partial unemployment benefits for a week you

are partially unemployed, so you should apply or reactivate the first week you have days of unemployment. When you actually request payment for that week after it’s done, be sure to report your earnings for the days you did work that week.

If you applied for unemployment benefits any time in the prior 52 weeks, you will not be completing a new application. Instead, access the system with your password, and you will be instructed to reactivate your existing account. If you don’t know your password, you can get a new one.

The first week you apply and are eligible for payment is called the waiting week and is never paid. You only have to serve one waiting week per year, so if you are reactivating a benefit account that is less than a year old, you will not have to serve another waiting week. A week for which your regular, sick, vacation, or holiday pay exceeds your unemployment benefit amount cannot be your waiting week.

Wages includes pay for hours or days worked, sick pay, vacation pay, PTO, or holiday pay for the same weeks you request unemployment benefits. These must be reported for the week to which they apply, not when they are actually paid. For each week you request unemployment benefits, you will be asked, “Did you work or have a paid holiday?” If you answer “yes”, you must be ready to enter your gross holiday pay, plus pay for any hours worked that week.

Another question asks, “Did you apply for or receive any source of income you have not already told us about?” You must answer “yes” if you are getting any vacation or sick pay for the week. You will then complete a questionnaire about that income before a determination is mailed to you stating how the income affects your benefits.

EXAMPLE OF AN EMPLOYEE LAID OFF 12-21-08 THROUGH 1-3-09 WHO SUBMITS A NEW APPLICATION WEEK OF 12-21-08 and has several days of holiday pay:

Employee averaged $420 per week gross wages in the base period, including overtime.

Three days holiday for Dec. 24, 25, 26 = 24 hours X $9.69/hr = $232. (This week cannot be waiting week because holiday pay exceeds the applicant’s weekly benefit amount of $210.)

One day holiday for Jan. 1 = 8 hours X $9.69/hr = $77.52 (This week is the waiting week because holiday pay is less than weekly benefit amount o $210. If the applicant has another week of layoff in the next 52 weeks, benefits can be paid for it.)

NOTE: If you worked a lot of overtime, three days of holiday pay might be less than your weekly benefit amount, so you could receive waiting week credit or benefits for Christmas week.

It is highly recommended that when you apply, you sign up for direct deposit into your checking account. If you don’t choose this option, you will be sent a U.S.Bank Reliacard^®Visa^® when your first payment is due. It is a debit card that works at ATM’s, banks, and stores. It has its own PIN. More info about the card or direct deposit is available at: http://www.uimn.org/ui/electronicpay.htm 8) HOW TO GET PAID

Payments work like a weekly payroll system. After you apply, you will be mailed an Information Handbook and a Personal Identification Number (PIN) with instructions telling you how and when to make your first request for payment.

You will use your PIN to request payment every week at www.uimn.org or by phone at 651-296-3644 or 1-877-898-9090. You may apply for benefits online any day Monday – Friday, 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM. If you are calling for benefits, the day you call is determined by the last digit of your social security number. No calls for benefits are accepted on Monday. People with social security numbers ending in 1,3 or 5 call Monday mornings, 6:00 AM to noon; last digits of 7 or 9 call on Monday afternoons to 6:00 PM. Even numbers 2 and 4 call Wednesday mornings; 6 and 8 call Wednesday afternoons. All calls are accepted on Thursdays and Fridays.

Every week you answer the same yes or no questions to verify that you were unemployed and to report any other income that may affect your benefit payment (that you have not already told us about). Waiting week credit or payment is then issued.

If you chose direct deposit, payment should be in your bank account 2 business days after you make your first payable request for benefits. If you did not apply for direct deposit, you will receive your debit card 7-10 days after your first payable request, with the first payment on the card. Thereafter, debit payments will be on your card within 2 business days after you request payment. You can add, cancel or change the direct deposit option at any time.

Unemployment benefits are taxable. When you apply, you can choose to have no withholding, or 10% federal, or 15% combined (10% federal + 5% state). A 1099-G form is mailed at the end of each January telling you what your total benefits and withholding were for the prior year.

After you apply and are issued a PIN, you can go to www.uimn.org to see your payments, deductions, balance, 1099 information, and your base period earnings that determined your benefit amounts. You can also change your withholding or direct deposit, your address, or your PIN. These options are also available through the automated phone system.

You do not have to seek work because you are being recalled within six weeks.

However, you cannot be paid benefits for weeks you are out of town or otherwise not available for work, or weeks you are totally disabled from working.

If you have a part-time job, you must keep track of your hours each calendar week, Sunday through Saturday, so you can report your gross earnings for the week when you request unemployment benefits. You must report earnings even if the work was part-time, temporary, for cash, or self employment.

If you work 32 hours or more in a week or your gross earnings equal or exceed your weekly benefit amount, you will not be eligible for unemployment benefits for that week.

If you work less than 32 hours and earn less than your weekly benefit amount, you can receive a partial benefit payment. 55% of any earnings in a week will be deducted from your benefits for that week. For example, if you earn $200 per week at a part-time job, your benefit will be reduced by $110 per week.