Partial unemployment insurance programs are meant for full time employees who fail to work the stipulated full-time due to lack of work. Such claims are filed by the employers for employees who do not work full-time during the pay period owing to lack of work or by the employees themselves. This is usually done when employers want to retain employees even though there isn’t sufficient work.
Eligibility
You still have to be on the payroll of a company in order to receive benefits. The eligibility is often determined by the state law, hence you may notice variations according to the state where you file your claims. In general, the following are the criteria that you must satisfy in order to qualify for the program.
- You must be able to work and you should be available for work.
- The time you worked or are working in a week must be less than what is by law decided as full time. i.e., If x number of hours per week is considered as the full-time work duration, you should have worked less than x hours in order to qualify.
- The only reason that makes you work less than the standard full-time duration should be lack of work and nothing else.
- You should be working for the employer and your weekly earnings should be less than the weekly benefit amount.
- You must establish monetary eligibility.
How to file
As mentioned before, partial unemployment insurance claims are filed by the employer for an employee. To do this you must first ensure the following:
- He/she is a full time employee
- He/She is a citizen of the USA
- He/She is laid off temporarily due to insufficient work
- Is not on vacation
- Has accepted and done all the work given out to them so far
- Is without earnings for no more than six weeks post layoff
- Is not receiving retirement pension
- Earned stipulated wages during the base period
The application procedure is not very different from the procedure for total unemployment. Claims can be filed through the Internet or via telephone. If you have to do it via the Internet, you will need to obtain a password by submitting an Employer Internet Password Application. Filing via Internet is by far the fastest method.
If you are looking for more details, visit Partial Claims section of DOL site.
Benefits
As of October 2012, if you weekly earnings are $500 or above, you will not be eligible for the program, no matter what your weekly benefit rate is.
Okay, so this is how you calculate the benefits you may receive. You have to report the sum total of wages earned during a week, this includes tips or any other source of income. These wages you report will then be reduced from your partial benefit rate which is around 20% higher than your weekly benefit rate. In any case, the benefit you receive will never be higher than the weekly benefit rate.
Consider this example. Assume you earn $100 a week. Your partial benefit rate as mentioned is 20% higher so that becomes $120. If you earned $50 during a week, you will receive $120- $50 = $70. Hence, $70 will be the amount of benefit you receive.
Receiving payments
Your partial unemployment benefits are either received via direct deposit or debit.You can check with your state unemployment insurance office for further information. You will receive benefits until you receive full weekly benefits or until the benefits year end.
Financial constraints can be difficult for every human being. Try to stay calm and positive. Actively search for new and better opportunities and always remember, a healthy attitude can solve most problems!
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