WHEN AND HOW CAN I APPLY FOR UI BENEFITS? If you become unemployed, you can file a claim at any office of the Rhode Island Department of Employment and Training. Your claim should be filed within seven (7) days of you last day of employment to avoid jeopardizing or delaying your first payment. Usually, local unemployment offices have fewer claimants later in the week. Always bring your Social Security Card, previous Unemployment Insurance ID booklet, and any other identification, such as Alien Identification Card, driver's license, credit card, pay stub etc. WHO CAN I CALL IF I HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT MY CLAIM? Should you find it necessary to call about your claim, call the local office where you filed your claim. A list is provided with each local office address and telephone number. AM I ELIGIBLE FOR UI? To qualify for Unemployment Insurance, you must meet certain earnings requirements. While these requirements are explained to you in detail, please do not use this information to try to determine your own eligibility. If you are laid off, we strongly urge you to apply for benefits. We will determine whether you qualify based on all the facts relating to your claim and notify you as quickly as possible. You must be unemployed through no fault of your own. You must be able to work, available for work, and searching for work. You must always be willing to accept a suitable job while you are claiming benefits. WHAT ARE THE EARNING REQUIREMENTS FOR UI BENEFITS? To be eligible for UI benefits, you must have been paid at least $5,340 in either your Base Period or an Alternate Base Period (both are explained in the following sections). If you did not earn this amount, you may be eligible if you meet all of the following conditions: 1. You were paid at least $890 in one of your Base Period quarters, and 2. You were paid total Base Period wages of at least one and one-half times your highest single quarter earnings, and 3. You were paid total Base Period wages of at least $1,780. Also, if you have had a previous claim, you must have worked again since filing that claim and must have been paid wages of at least eighty times the R.I. minimum hourly wage of $4.45, or $356. WHAT IS THE BASE PERIOD? The Base Period is the period that we look at to determine if you have been paid sufficient wages to be eligible. Normally, your Base Period consists of the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before the starting date of your new claim. The calendar quarters are: January 1 through March 31; April 1 through June 30; July 1 through September 30; October 1 through December 31. If wages from one of these quarters had to be used to establish a previous claim using the alternate Base Period (explained in the next Section), that quarter's wages cannot be used again to compute your current claim. WHAT IS AN ALTERNATE BASE PERIOD? If you submit a new claim starting on or after October 4, 1992, and you do not meet the minimum earnings requirements in the regular Base Period, we will recompute your claim using an Alternate Base Period. This period consists of the last four completed calendar quarters before the starting date of your claim. While you must still meet the same overall earnings requirements, the Alternate Base Period will allow some of your more recent wages to be counted towards establishing your claim. WHEN DOES MY CLAIM BEGIN? With few exceptions, your claim will start with the Sunday of the week in which you first report to file your claim. This begins your Benefit Year. The Benefit Year is a 52 week period. In instances when a subsequent claim would cause base periods to overlap, the benefit year is 53 weeks. Any additional claims (refiles) you submit during this period will have the same Benefit Year. WHEN WILL I GET MY FIRST CHECK? Most eligible customers get their first check during the third week of their claim. WHY DIDN'T I RECEIVE A CHECK FOR THE FIRST WEEK I WAS ON UI? You must serve a Waiting Period at the start of your new claim it can be served by: 1. 7 consecutive days of unemployment or 2. If you work a partial week and your earnings are less than your Benefit Rate, you would be entitled to a Waiting Period for that week or 3. If you work a partial week and your earnings are over your Benefit Rate you would be entitled to a Waiting Period starting on your first day of unemployment through the 7th day which is called a split Waiting Period. IF I FILE ANOTHER CLAIM, DO I HAVE TO SERVE ANOTHER WAITING PERIOD? You must serve a Waiting Period only once during each Benefit Year. HOW MUCH WILL I RECEIVE? Your weekly benefit rate will be equal to 4.62% of the wages paid to you in the highest quarter of your Base Period. By law, a maximum weekly benefit rate is determined annually. It is equal to 67% of the average weekly wage of all workers covered by the Employment Security Act. Your weekly benefit rate remains the same throughout your benefit year. HOW MUCH WILL I RECEIVE FOR DEPENDENCY ALLOWANCE? If you have dependent children under 18 years of age you may be entitled to a dependency allowance. Handicapped children over 18 may also qualify as a dependent. The dependency allowance is limited to 5 dependents and is equal to the greater of 5% of your weekly benefit rate for each dependent or $10 per dependent. The dependency allowance established at the start of your benefit year remains the same even if the number of children should change during the year. (If 2 or more parties make claim for the same dependent for the same week, the person who has physical custody receives the allowance.) HOW LONG CAN I COLLECT? The duration of your claim is equal to 36% of your total base period wages divided by your basic weekly benefit rate (not including dependent's allowance). The most you are allowed to collect is an amount equal to 26 full weeks. You may claim these weeks any time you are unemployed during your benefit year. WHY IS MY UI CHECK LESS THAN MY FULL BENEFIT AMOUNT? IF YOU WORK PART OF A WEEK: You must report all wages earned for any week in which you claim benefits. If you worked less than full time and your gross wages are less than your weekly benefit rate, you should qualify for a partial benefit payment as well as a partial earnings incentive. Please bring in a pay slip or other proof of the amount you earn so that we can determine your partial payment. LAG BENEFITS: If your unemployment begins before the end of your regular work week, you may be entitled to a lag payment. Lag payments are equal to 1/5th of your benefit rate. They are allowed for each normal work day which follows the seven day waiting period. If you return to work in the middle of a work week, you may also be paid a lag payment. The lag payment would be 1/5th of your benefit rate for each work day preceding your return to work date. CAN I COLLECT UI IF RECEIVING PENSIONS OR OWE CHILD SUPPORT? Any pension that you are receiving from a base period employer may be deducted from your benefit rate. If you owe child support payments, a deduction may be made from your benefit check and sent to the Bureau of Family Support. WHY WOULD I BE DENIED BENEFITS? You may be denied benefits if you become unemployed for reasons other than lack of work. If you quit your job without good cause, you will be denied benefits until you work at least four weeks and earn at least $89 in each week. If you are fired for proved misconduct connected with your job, you will be denied benefits until you work at least four weeks and earn at least $89 in each week. If you refuse a suitable job offer, you will be denied benefits until you work at least four weeks and earn at least $89 in each week. If you become unemployed because of a labor dispute, you may be denied benefits. Whenever a question arises about your eligibility for benefits you will have an opportunity to present your side of the case. You may bring witnesses or someone to represent you. You should bring any documents or other evidence that will support your claim. You will receive a written decision that will either approve your claim or tell you why and for how long you are refused benefits. You have the right to appeal any decision with which you do not agree. You must request a hearing within the time limits specified on the written decision which you are appealing. The claims office will be pleased to provide information and help you file an appeal. CAN I COLLECT UI IF I WORK FOR THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT? Benefits are not payable to an employee of a public or a nonprofit school or to an Educational Service Agency employee who performs services in a school, if such employee has a reasonable assurance of returning to work after a between-terms period,holiday or recess period. OTHER INFORMATION YOU SHOULD KNOW CITIZENSHIP STATUS REQUIREMENTS: The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 required us to check the citizenship and right to employment status of all Unemployment Insurance claimants. Claimants must provide documentation of citizenship or legal alien status if we request it. COLLEGE COURSES WITHOUT PAYMENT OF TUITION: Eligible Rhode Island claimants may take any course, for credit, at any state operated college or university.Tuition or registration fees will not be charged. However,you would pay activity, lab, and student union fees, etc. Admission is on a space available basis. For more information, ask at any DET office. TAXATION OF BENEFITS: You do not pay for Unemployment Insurance. Your employer pays for the program through Employment Security taxes. Any Unemployment Insurance benefits you receive are fully taxable, if you are required to file a tax return. Tax will not be withheld from your benefit payments. You are responsible for determining the amount of your tax and paying the amount due. The law required that you pay 50% of your tax for the year through withholding or quarterly tax payments. For more information on withholding and when you should make estimated tax payments, see IRS Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax, or the instructions for Form 1040-ES. EARNED INCOME CREDIT: You may qualify for Earned Income Credit. This credit is for both single and married parents who worked either full or part time during the year, and have a dependent child in the home. The credit reduces the amount of tax you owe (if any). In almost all cases, the earned income credit does not reduce other government benefits. To get your earned income credit: File a federal income tax return (Form 1040 or 1040A). Fill out "Schedule EIC" and attach it to your tax return. For more information see IRS Publication 596, "Earned Income Credit", or call IRS toll free at 1-800-829-1040. QUALITY CONTROL: Claims are selected at random for a thorough audit to insure that benefits have been properly paid. If your claim is selected for audit, you will be required to provide more detailed information to support your claim. TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE: If imports cost you your job, you may be able to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA). This Assistance includes: Training and Training Allowances; Job Search Allowance; Relocation Allowance; job Search Program In addition, you may receive weekly Trade Readjustment Allowances (TRA) if you enroll in a TAA approved training program. If you would like more information on Trade Adjustment Assistance, please stop into any of our DET Local Offices, or post a question here in the DET Forum. TOLL FREE INFORMATION LINE: You may call the Department's information line to find out when your last payment was mailed. You also may call for general program information. This is a computerized system. Information about claims paid on Monday is available on Tuesday, Tuesday checks on Wednesday, etc. Call 1-800-368-5151 in Rhode Island. If you are calling from out of state, call 1-401-277-6384 (toll call). If you have a specific question that cannot be answered by this system, please call your local DET office. Information about your claim is protected by State and Federal law. However, the law also requires that some information be shared or exchanged with other State or Federal agencies. .