People who have lost their jobs may be able to receive a portion of their lost wages through the federal-state unemployment insurance (UI) system.
Unemployed applicants who exhaust their typical state-funded unemployment benefits before finding work may be eligible for additional weeks of payments in specific instances.
How Long Can You Be Unemployed?
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, all states received federal funds through the CARES Act, allowing them to provide additional weeks of pandemic emergency unemployment benefits (PEUC) to persons who had exhausted their regular state benefits and pandemic unemployment aid (PUA)
The length of time an individual can receive unemployment benefits is determined by the state in which they live. For example, Massachusetts is one of only two states that offer qualified individuals more than the standard 26-week limit.
Montana is the other state that goes above and above the regular 26-week maximum, providing some unemployed residents with 28 weeks of payments.
Meanwhile, Arkansas, Iowa, and Oklahoma grant a maximum of 16 weeks of benefits, while Michigan, South Carolina, and Missouri provide up to 20 weeks of UI benefits to eligible applicants.
Read more: How to apply for unemployment benefits in 2023?
Planning To File For Unemployment While Receiving Severance Pay?
Some jurisdictions allow you to file for and receive unemployment benefits while receiving severance compensation, while others say severance pay may reduce your benefit amount or make you ineligible at the time.
Some employment specialists advise negotiating whether to receive your severance in a lump sum or over time, based on how it may affect your unemployment eligibility.
If you’re freelancing or working part-time while looking for a full-time job, you may be eligible for partial unemployment, which allows you to work up to a set amount of your unemployment benefit before it starts to drop.
Consequently, if you earn money through a side business, such as designing websites for clients on Fiverr or selling on Etsy, you must mention it when you confirm your weekly benefits with your state unemployment office.
Each state has its unique method of calculating partial unemployment. In New York, for example, if you work fewer than 10 hours that week, your benefit is paid in full, but it decreases by 25% for every few hours worked. After 31 hours, you are no longer eligible for assistance that week.
If you earn an amount that disqualifies you from unemployment, as defined by your state, the number of weeks remaining in your bank will basically pause until the next time you qualify, as long as it occurs during your benefit year.=
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