File for Unemployment Benefits in Connecticut Online using this service.
Unemployment Insurance is temporary income for workers who are unemployed through no fault of their own and who are either looking for new jobs, in approved training, or awaiting recall to employment. The funding for unemployment insurance benefits comes from taxes paid by employers. Workers do not pay any of the costs.
To qualify for unemployment benefits, you must have earned sufficient wages during a specified time (monetary eligibility). To collect benefits, you must meet certain legal eligibility requirements set by Connecticut Department of Labor.
FAQs
How much compensation can I receive as part of Unemployment Insurance in Connecticut?
The Connecticut Department of Labor looks at wages for a 12-month period that is called the Base Period. The time is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters prior to the calendar quarter in which you initiated the claim.
Individuals who cannot establish monetary eligibility using wages in the previously described base period will use an alternate base period. The alternate base period consists of the four calendar quarters immediately preceding the quarter in which the claim is filed.
To determine if a person has sufficient wage credits, the law requires that he or she must have total base period earnings that equals or exceeds 40 times the Weekly Benefit Rate. Normally, the maximum number of weeks of regular benefits payable is 26.
What wages are used in determining monetary eligibility for Unemployment Insurance in Connecticut?
Wages are drawn from a one-year period (four calendar quarters) to calculate eligibility. This one-year period is called the Base Period.
By law, neither the quarter in which your claim is initiated nor the calendar quarter immediately preceding that quarter can be used for this calculation. Therefore, the Base Period normally will be the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters prior to the effective date of the new claim.
- If your claim is effective with any Sunday in: January, February, or March
The Base Period will be the first nine months (Jan-Sept) of last year and the last three months (Oct-Dec) of the year before last;
- If your claim is effective with any Sunday in: April, May, or June
The Base Period will be all twelve months (Jan-Dec) of last year;
- If your claim is effective with any Sunday in: July, August, or September
The Base Period will be the first three months of the current year (Jan-Mar) and the last nine months (Apr-Dec) of the last year;
- If your claim is effective with any Sunday in: October, November, or December
The Base Period will be the first six months (Jan-June) of the current year and last six months of the last year.
What are the basic eligibility requirements to apply for unemployment insurance in Connecticut?
To apply for Unemployment Insurance in Connecticut, you will need to fall under one of the following:
- Be fully or partially unemployed;
- Be unemployed through no fault of your own [the law imposes disqualifications for certain types of separations from employment];
- Be physically and mentally able to work full time*;
- Be available for full-time work*;
- Be registered with the American Job Center;
- Be actively seeking work by making reasonable efforts to find employment each week;
- Participate in selected reemployment services if you are identified as a dislocated worker by the profiling system;
- File your weekly claims as directed.
*Individuals who cannot work because of a physical or mental impairment that is chronic or expected to be long-term or permanent may qualify for benefits if they are available for suitable part-time work.
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