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Unemployment Help > Unemployment Benefits 101
Unemployment Benefits 101
Workers who are currently unemployed can seek for
temporary financial assistance in the form of unemployment insurance
benefits in their nearest employment security office in any American
state. Prior to the approval of this application, the claimant must
first be proven eligible to claim these benefits, the requirements for
which are as follows:
The claimant must have worked for at least 52 weeks
under an employer, agency, or company and has rendered services for at
least once in every week at the said duration. Also, it is expected from
the applicant that he is currently looking for a job, where a
corresponding letter or statement from the potential employers may also
be necessary to support this claim.
The unemployed worker is also required to submit
various supporting documents, prior to filling the application for
unemployment, such as his Social Security Identification Number, which
will be used in further identifying his workforce category.
Consequently, he may also be asked to provide the complete contact
information of his previous employers for the purpose of verification of
the latter's compliance with the state's laws and provisions on
collecting unemployment compensation from the worker's employers.
Also, the unemployed worker may be required to
provide other essential information such as the income tax filling
requirements and processes that he has complied with his previous job.
Granted that the claimant has been approved of his application, the
following are the unemployment insurance benefits that he can avail:
-26 weeks of financial insurance, the amount of which
will be computed in accordance with a certain percentage of the
claimant's salary for the last 52 weeks upon applying.
-The usual rates are set up to 50% of the claimant's
weekly wage, or depending on the US state that he is located. For
instance, New York imposes higher unemployment taxes on the worker's
employers; hence, higher benefits are to be expected for the workers in
that state.
-The weekly payment is usually coupled with a
one-week waiting time, which is the complete week after the claimant's
application documents have been successfully processed and approved.
-Claimants having children and siblings to
financially support are also entitled additional $25 for each child;
however, this rate could go as high as half the claimant's weekly wage,
again depending on the imposed laws in his state.
-Health insurance benefits can also be availed in the
form of medical and mental assistance. Fortunately, this service is also
extended up to the immediate family members, who are also entitled to
these benefits, granted that the family has been declared eligible by
the state law in their residence to avail of such services.
While it is
completely beneficial to avail of these unemployment benefits for a
maximum of 26 weeks, former US President Bush has extended this
compensation for up to 7 weeks in times of high unemployment.
Nevertheless, it is still expected from the claimant that he is in all
his efforts to find a job and as much as possible, never to decline a
job offer under the qualified circumstances, else he will no longer be
eligible.
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