Definitely Eligible

1. Never worked before at all, but have a job offer that you were going to start, or self-employment opportunity that you were going to start, but now cannot because of Covid-19.

2. Self-employed and can’t work now, due to Covid-19.

3. Started a self-employed business but didn’t turn a profit yet and now cannot work due to Covid-19.

4. Spouse currently earning or currently receiving unemployment. Unemployment is individual-based, not family-based. If you are unemployed, you are eligible, even if your spouse or another adult in your household is a high earner. Even if you were a dependent on someone else’s tax return, you may still be eligible for unemployment. Also, two spouses can both collect unemployment at the same time, as long as they are both eligible.

5. Lost your job more than a year ago and haven’t worked at all in the past year.

6. Your workplace closed due to Covid-19.

7. You are the primary caregiver for your children, who need your attention constantly and their place of childcare is closed. You were not laid off, your workplace is open and your boss wants you to work from home, even to work from home or telework.

8. You do freelance work for a company on a 1099 and can’t work, due to Covid-19.

9. Fired from your job because your boss thought you were not doing a good enough job. (If you were fired for misconduct, you might not be eligible.)

10. Don’t see your scenario? Check the FAQ and the BLOG for lots more scenarios!

Somewhat Eligible

1. You still work, but you are now working reduced hours. So as long as you are working less than 4 days per week and earning less than $504 a week, you are eligible. State unemployment is reduced by ¼ per day you work, so here’s how it works:

   • If you worked one day in a week, you lose 25% of your state benefit (still get the full $600).

   • If you worked 2 days, you lose 50% of your state benefit (still get the full $600).

   • If you worked 3 days, you lose 75% of your state benefit (still get the full $600).

   • If you worked 4 days (or more), you lose 100% of your state benefit, and most likely you also lose your $600 as well.

The above four scenarios is per week that you collect unemployment. If you are not eligible for one week, you can still be eligible the following weeks. I believe you need to be eligible during the week that you actually apply for unemployment.

Not Eligible

1. You are currently working and would like to leave employment in order to collect unemployment. You are not the primary caregiver and you are not medically required to quarantine.

2. If you are working 4 or more days per week and getting paid, (including if you are teleworking from home). You are only not eligible if you worked 4 days all along and are still working 4 days a week now. If there were some weeks that you worked only 3 days a week, you can still be eligible for those weeks.

3. If you are getting paid sick leave or paid family leave – again this is only an issue for those specific weeks that you are getting paid sick leave or paid family leave.

Not eligible for unemployment but eligible for other Covid-19 financial help

1. If you are working and are not eligible for unemployment, look into Paid Family Leave for Covid-19

2. If you are feeling too sick to work because of the virus, it seems that you are eligible for either unemployment or paid sick leave. Click here for Covid-19 paid sick leave.

3. If you are currently self-employed or running your own business, check this link for grant/loan information.

See more scenarios in the FAQ

Old Pre-Covid Rules 

Note: These are the pre-Covid rules. Scroll down for the current Covid rules.

1. Payment Amount: Capped by each state. NY, for example, gives approx 50% of earned income, up to $504/week, up to 26 weeks. (Mississippi is all the way at the bottom with a maximum of $235 a week and Massachusetts at the top with a maximum of $823 per week, or more with dependents.)

2. Eligibility: You must have worked for an employer within the previous 18 months and were laid off. You also have to have a minimum amount of work history to be eligible. Though if you were laid off a year ago, you would still be eligible. Someone without a work history within the previous 18 months or a self-employed person would be ineligible. Also, if someone quit their job – even for good reason – they would not be eligible.

3. Timing: You generally only collect unemployment from the week after you apply. If you didn’t apply right when you lost your job, there is no back pay, unless you show good cause why you didn’t apply straight away.

4. Length of time: Limited to a certain amount of weeks. In NY, it’s 26 weeks.

5. Looking for work: While receiving unemployment insurance, you must “look for work” and provide proof that you are trying to find work.

However… the above limitations don’t apply during Covid-19!

New Covid Unemployment Rules

As part of the CARES Act, unemployment assistance has been drastically expanded to help everyday people who are financially impacted by Covid-19. Many of us have never claimed unemployment. Many of us also never lived through a pandemic. If you can’t work because of this virus, this is for you. The information below is based on NY. Click here to access the unemployment website for each state.

So what exactly has the government done to improve unemployment?

1. Payment amount. Until July 31, 2020, Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) adds $600 to what you would get from the state. This is automatically added to anyone getting state unemployment from their state. In NY, the “regular” max is $504/week, so the amount now jumps to $1,104 a week.

2. Eligibility: Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) greatly expanded who is eligible for unemployment. Many people who are not eligible for state unemployment now become eligible. For example, self-employed people or people without a work history.

3. Timing: The PUA also added a provision to backpay from the time of unemployment (if it is due to Covid-19) and also remove the waiting week requirement. So now, unemployment starts from the first week of unemployment and also gets back paid to the date that you could no longer work to the virus.

4. Length of Time: Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) extends the time one can get unemployment payments by an additional 13 weeks. In NY, where the maximum is 26 weeks, one can now get unemployment payments for 39 weeks. The additional $600 per week stops July 31st.

5. Looking for work: Due to Covid-19, this requirement is flexible, so you may not be required to look for work in order to stay eligible each week. For further details, see ‘I heard I need to look for work while getting unemployment. Do I?‘