Maryland unemployment eligibility requirements are administered by its Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulations (DLLR). When you apply, they check your information for accuracy and eligibility. Know more about eligibility requirements.
Non Monetary Eligibility
- Lost job through no fault of your own
- Be able, available and willing to work
- Quit job for “good cause” such as unsafe working conditions, not receiving payment for your work, to care for a minor child or terminally ill spouse etc.
- Fired not unjust cause
Monetary Eligibility
To determine a claimant’s monetary eligibility, the primary issue to be addressed is whether the claimant worked in covered employment (work that an individual performs for an employing unit that is the basis for benefits) during his base period. A base period is the 1st four of the last five completed calendar quarters immediately prior to the start of the claimant’s benefit year.
A benefit year is a one-year period that begins on the first day of the first week for which a claimant initially files for benefits.
To collect Maryland unemployment, you must have earned at least $900 during your total base period and $300 outside of the highest-earning quarter.
Eligibility questions
What happens if I am fired from my job?
Depending on the reason you were discharged, there are three levels of misconduct in the Maryland Unemployment Insurance Law.
Simple Misconduct
- If you were suspended or discharged for simple misconduct related to the work.
- Benefits are denied from 5 to 10 weeks from the week that includes your last day of work if your benefit year began before March 6, 2011.
- If your benefit year begins on or after March 6, 2011, benefits will be denied from 10 to 15 weeks from the week that includes your last day of work.
Gross Misconduct
- If you were suspended or discharged for gross misconduct related to work (serious or repeated violations of employment rules or expected standards of behavior could be considered gross misconduct).
- Benefits are denied until you become re-employed and earn 20 times your Weekly Benefit Amount in insured work if your benefit year began before March 6, 2011.
- If your benefit year begins on or after March 6, 2011, benefits are denied until you become re-employed and earn 25 times your Weekly benefit amount in insured work.
Aggravated Misconduct
- If you were suspended or discharged for aggravated misconduct in connection with the work (malicious, deliberate acts meant to cause physical harm, property loss or damage could be considered aggravated misconduct).
- Benefits are denied until you become re-employed and earn 30 times your Weekly Benefit Amount in insured work.
What happens if I am laid off from my job?
In order to collect unemployment in Maryland, you have to become unemployed through no fault of your own. When you get laid-off, it is not your fault.
In almost all cases, this means that if you get laid-off, you are eligible to collect unemployment benefits.
If you get laid-off from your job, you should right away apply for unemployment benefits.
Getting laid-off doesn’t mean that you were fired or you quit voluntarily. It simply means that the company in which you worked did not have sufficient work for you and could no longer pay for the job.
What happens if I quit my job?
You have voluntarily quit your employment.
If you quit your job without “good cause” attributable to your employment, either of two disqualifications may apply denial of benefits
a) from 5 to 10 weeks from the week that includes your last day of work, or
b) until you become re-employed and earn 15 times your Weekly Benefit Amount in insured work
Good cause includes voluntarily leaving
- to join a spouse
- to attend school
- to become self-employed
In addition, if your employer or supervisors were harassing you or creating a hostile work environment, you can claim emotional distress. It might also be just cause if the emotional distress came from fellow coworkers and was agreed by your employer, who didn’t take steps to end it.
However, if you can prove your case to the satisfaction of the DLLR, you can continue getting benefits.
Next Step –
If you are eligible, you can go ahead and apply for unemployment benefits.
Office locations and phone numbers of Unemployment office.
Also check weekly claims and work search requirements which are an absolute necessity if you want to obtain your benefit payment.
Calculate your benefit amount. This is based on your earnings in the base period.
Comments are closed.