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General
Eligibility
When should I
file for UI?
You should file
your initial claim to establish your claim for UI benefits the
first week that you are totally or partially unemployed. Do not
file for a week if you earned $362 or
more in wages during the week.
Where
do I file a claim for UI benefits?
All unemployment claims
are taken through the
telephone claims centers or the
Internet Claim
Filing System. To seek employment, visit the one of our
JobConnect
Office locations. You can use resources at the Nevada
JobConnect offices to file a claim for benefits, such as their
computers and telephones, but their staff can not take a claim for
benefits from you.
What do I do after I file a claim for UI benefits?Your
claim begins the Sunday of the week you first file an Unemployment
Insurance Claim. Benefits can not be paid for weeks prior to
the beginning Sunday of your claim. To claim a week of
unemployment, the week must be completed. You cannot claim a
week of benefits until the Sunday of the following week. You
may file the weekly claim any day during the next week.
Claims filed late (more than 7 days after the week ending date)
may be denied.
Example:
You create a claim for benefits on Tuesday, January 3. The
claim is effective Sunday, January 1. The week that ends
Saturday, January 6 is the first week that may be paid. You
can not claim the week ending Saturday, January 6 until at least
Sunday, January 7, but the weekly claim MUST be filed between
Sunday January 7 and Saturday, January 13. If you do not
claim the week, no further action will be taken. It is your
responsibility to claim each week and to answer all questions
truthfully. If you do not understand these instructions,
please contact your telephone claim center for additional
information.
The law requires
that a person be able to work, available for work and actively
seeking work, unless specifically excused from doing so by a
representative of the Employment Security Division.
You must engage in
a regular and consistent search for employment. There is no
set number of job contacts you must make. Normally, you must
seek work several days each week and contact several employers
each time you look for work. Seeking work is a full time
job.
You must seek work in a manner customary to your type of work and
you must maintain a written record of your efforts to seek
work. For most people, this requires physically going out
and putting in job applications with the appropriate
employers. You may apply for jobs listed in the Nevada
JobConnect offices, newspapers and electronic job listing
services, such as the Nevada One Stop Operating System.
Individuals who are members of hiring hall unions may seek work
solely through their hiring hall union if they meet the following
criteria:
1. The union prohibits or discourages members from seeking
work on their own;
2. You are in good standing with the union, meaning your
dues are paid and you meet all other requirements of membership:
3. You report for job call as directed by the union
representative.
Professionals, such
as accountants, managers, nurses and others that typically use
resumes for work search contacts may use those methods.
Ultimately, these methods do not replace in-person contacts but
are used to develop those contacts and to qualify for positions.
Once you have
contacted an employer to apply for work, you should follow up with
the employer in addition to making new contacts each week.
It is not productive to repeatedly contact the same employers over
and over, unless encouraged to do so by those employers. By
limiting the number of employer contacts to those you have already
applied with, you are increasing likelihood that you will exhaust
your benefits before you return to work.
You may receive
notices from the Nevada Employment Security Division advising you
that you have an appointment to review your efforts to secure work
or to assess whether you need other assistance to return to
work. You MUST keep these appointments. Failure to
attend an appointment as directed will result in a delay in your
benefits and may result in a loss of eligibility for the period
that you did not report to an office as directed. When you
report to one of our offices for a scheduled appointment, you must
bring your identification and the written record of your
activities in seeking work. If you are unable to attend the
appointment at the scheduled date and time, immediately notify the
office that sent the appointment letter. You can be
rescheduled once, but you must attend the rescheduled appointment
to protect your benefit rights.
Finally, when you
are receiving unemployment benefits, you may not refuse an offer
of work considered to be suitable. Suitable work is
determined by your skills, training, experience and
capabilities. If you are referred to a job by a
representative of a Nevada JobConnect you MUST apply for the job
to protect your benefit rights.
Please
explain my monetary determination.
The monetary determination that you are mailed
explains your monetary award and the wages that were used to
compute your claim. How much you receive is based on how much you
earned during the period of time used to create your
eligibility. This time period is typically a one-year the
period you worked starting a year and a half ago and ending 3-6
months ago. Only wages that fall within this base period can
be used to create a claim for benefits.
If you disagree with the wages
reported on your monetary determination, you have 11 days to file
an appeal to this document. Your claim booklet explains how
your monetary determination is calculated and shows how we
determine the base period used to calculate your claim.
How do I
know I am eligible?There
are three basic requirements of eligibility.
1. You have earned sufficient income in the base period to
qualify for a claim.
2. You are determined to be out of work through no fault of
your own.
3. You meet all requirements of eligibility on a week to
week basis as long as you are claiming benefits.
You will receive a monetary determination within 7
days after you file your initial claim. This will tell you the
monetary amount of your claim (weekly and total potentially
payable benefits).
If there is a
question of eligibility relating to your claim, we must review the
circumstances to determine if benefits may be paid to you.
Questions of eligibility arise from several situations:
1. Separation from
employment for reasons other than a layoff due to a lack of work;
2. Payment of vacation pay, severance pay or payments made
by the employer in lieu of a notice of impending layoff;
3. Ability to work, availability for work or efforts to seek
and secure work;
4. Failing to report to a Nevada JobConnect office as
directed to review your work search activities or to determine if
you need reemployment assistance;
5. Refusing work or failing to apply for a job as directed
by a representative of the Nevada JobConnect office;
6. Failing to file weekly claims for each week of
unemployment;
7. Failing to reply to a request for additional information
or did not provide the information within the time period
provided;
8. Filing a claim for benefits based on employment for an
educational institution or for a professional athletic team;
9. Failing to report work and/or earnings for a week claimed
for unemployment;
If there is a
question of eligibility, you may receive a separate
determination telling you if you are eligible based upon the
reasons for the separation. If benefits are to be denied for ANY
reason, you will be sent a written notice of our determination and
providing you with instructions on how to file an appeal to that
decision.
The fact finding and decision process
normally take 3 weeks from the time you file your claim. We
make all efforts to resolve questions of eligibility as soon as
possible to minimize the impact of the loss of income, or to
provide you with a quick determination and opportunity to appeal
if you are found to not meet all eligibility requirements.
Do
you have extended benefits (EB)?
Extended benefits
are not being paid at this time. Extended benefits
is a supplemental program that pays extended compensation during a
period of
specified high unemployment. Each eligible claimant will be notified
if extended
benefits are to be paid and public
announcements are made through newspapers, radio and television
throughout the state.
How much is
my first check?
Your first and subsequent checks will be your weekly
benefit amount (WBA). This amount is explained to you on your
monetary determination. If you had earnings during the week
you filed for benefits, provided the amount of your earnings before
taxes were removed is less than your weekly entitlement, your check
will be reduced by 75-cents for every dollar you earned. This
amount remains in your account for future use any time during the
benefit year period.
As of July 1, 2006, the most that anyone
filing for unemployment benefits against Nevada can receive
for a week is $362.
If
the automated response system says my weekly claim has been accepted, will I get a check?
If you receive a message that your claim has been
accepted, it means that the automated system has processed your
claim. This does not always mean that the claim has been approved
for payment. It
is important to listen carefully to the messages you receive when filing your
continued claim. Failure to follow the instructions may lead to a possible
delay or denial of your benefits.
If your claim has
been accepted, you may not receive a check if you have previously
been denied and have not met requalifying requirements.
Checks will also be held if there are unresolved questions of
eligibility, or your personal circumstances raise new questions of
eligibility.
Does
Nevada have a disability benefit?
Some states have a
special benefit available to people who are unable to work due to
medical conditions that are not related to their employment.
Some examples are women on maternity leave, individuals who are
suffering from serious illness, people injured in accidents or
people who have psychological problems. Other states base
these benefits on a tax paid by the employee.
Nevada has no
provision to assist individuals who are unable to work at the time
they file a claim for unemployment insurance. If the
individual qualifies for benefits under programs provided by the
Department of Health and Human Services, such as TANF, they may
receive benefits through these programs. Individuals whose
medical conditions are more permanent in nature may qualify for
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) administered by the Social
Security Administration. These benefits are not paid by the
Nevada Employment Security Division.
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