If you are unemployed, you may be eligible for unemployment benefits in Maryland. The Maryland Department of Labor's (DOL) Division of Unemployment Insurance handles the Unemployment Insurance program. There are four articles in this series with information on eligibility, applying, appealing a denial, and other resources. This article deals with eligibility and information you need to gather before applying.
Topics on this page:
Overview
Eligibility
Unemployment benefits may be available if you:
- are unemployed through no fault of your own
- are able to work, available to work, and actively seeking work, AND
- earned a certain minimum amount in wages during the standard base period or alternate base period before you were unemployed.
- Standard Base Period – the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before filing a claim.
- Alternative Base Period – the most recently completed four calendar quarters of wages before filing a claim.
Some individuals may be exempt from the requirement to be actively seeking work.. Exemptions may be granted to:
- Civilian employees of the Federal Government who are furloughed due to a full or partial government shutdown. To be eligible for exemption, the civilian employee must be temporarily barred from work and in a temporary non-pay status.
- Individuals temporarily laid off from work as a direct result of the event or occurrence that led to the Governor declaring a state of emergency. Individuals must remain able to work and available for work.
There are no income or asset eligibility requirements to be eligible for unemployment benefits.
Benefit Amount - The weekly benefit amount is the amount of money you may receive and ranges from $50 to $430. The weekly benefit amount is based upon the amount of money you earned from your previous employers during a specific time period as well as other factors (e.g., number of dependents). Learn more about the weekly benefit amount from the DOL's website.
Note that UI benefits are taxable as income. If you are paid UI benefits, you will receive a 1099-G at the end of the year. Learn more on the DOL website.
Duration of Benefits - Unemployment benefits are available for up to 26 weeks. Benefits may exceed 26 weeks if a federal extension program is available. If this is the case, then the DOL will notify you that there is an extension in effect.
Read the Law: Md. Code, Labor & Employment § 8-101, § 8-802, § 8-803, § 8-808, § 8-903
Read the Regulations: Code of Md. Regulation, Title 9, Subtitle 32
Maintaining Eligibility
Once determined eligible and collecting benefits, a person must meet the following requirements to continue receiving benefits:
- Be able to work; be available to work
- You must be able to work every week without limits. This means you cannot set any unnecessary restrictions on when you can work or what jobs you will accept.
- Actively search for work
- You must actively search for work each week. To fulfill the active search requirement, do the following:
- register in the Maryland Workforce Exchange (MWE) system
- fulfill the MWE resume requirements:
- upload/create a resume,
- make the resume viewable to employers; and,
- maintain an up-to-date resume in MWE while collecting UI benefits.
- Complete at least 3 valid reemployment activities each week
- at least one of the reemployment activities. One activity must include a job contact. A job contact is an action you take to reach out to an employer to try to get a job. Job contacts include:
- submitting a job application;
- making an in-person contact with a potential employer;
- attending a job interview;
- contacting an employer through another appropriate method; or,
- making contact through a method specified by the employer.
- at least one of the reemployment activities. One activity must include a job contact. A job contact is an action you take to reach out to an employer to try to get a job. Job contacts include:
- Keep a detailed record of the job contacts and valid reemployment activities you complete each week.
- NOTE: If you have an offer of suitable employment but have not started the job yet, you must continue to look for work until you begin working.
- File your weekly claim certification
- You must file a weekly claim certification each week. The claim certification includes questions that you must answer to certify whether you are eligible for UI benefits during a specific week.
- The weekly certification can be filed in BEACON, the MD Unemployment for Claimants mobile app, or by telephone.
- Report payments
- You are required to report all your gross earnings (from wages, self-employment income, commission payments, etc.) on your weekly claim certification. You must also report the first payment from a retirement payment/pension you did not previously report on your claim certification.
- NOTE: If you receive certain payments (severance, vacation, holiday, bonus, back pay or damages, or other special payments) after filing an initial claim, you are required to report it by calling a claims agent at (667) 207-6520.
- If selected, you must complete a required reemployment workshop
- The Maryland Division of Workforce Development & Adult Learning (DWDAL) may select you to participate in a Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) workshop or Reemployment Opportunity Workshop (ROW). The workshops are designed to provide assistance and resources to help claimants overcome potential employment barriers and become reemployed as quickly as possible. If selected, you are required to attend and complete the workshop to maintain eligibility.
- Accept suitable work, when it is offered to you
- You must accept an offer of suitable work.
- If you refuse an offer of work, the Division will determine if the job was suitable and if you refused with good cause. Your previous work experience, distance from your home, length of unemployment, safety, risk to your health, prospects for obtaining work in your customary occupation, are some, but not all, of the factors the Division considers in determining whether the work is suitable.
Information and documents you need to apply
Gather all the information and documents you need before applying. This will speed the application process and get you benefits faster.
Personal Information
- Social Security Number
- Date of birth
- Alien Registration Number, if you are not a U.S. citizen
- Residential and mailing addresses
- Telephone number
- Email address
- Name, date of birth, and social security number of all dependents under age 16
Employment history for the past 18 months
- Name, address, and telephone of each employer for the past 18 months
- Employment start and end dates for each employer
- Return-to-work date (if known and applicable)
- Union name and local number (if you are a union member)
- DD Form 214 (if you were in the military within the past 18 months)
- Form SF-8 (if you were a federal employee within the past 18 months)
Documents you may be asked to show
- For W-2 hourly or wage employees:
- Pay Stubs
- IRS Form W-2
- For self-employed or independent contractors:
- IRS Form 1099
- Tax Return: Schedule C
- Summary of Quarterly Payments
- Accounts Receivable Statement
- Income Tax K-1 Schedule
- Profit and Loss Statement
- Business Formation Papers (Business Registration or Charter, EIN, etc.)
- Independent Contractor Agreement
Documents you may need to apply if unable to work because of an impact by COVID-19
- Letter from your employer indicating that you were to begin working but cannot because COVID-19
- Letter from your employer stating that COVID-19 caused the business to close
- Letter from your child’s school or childcare facility stating that COVID-19 caused the school or facility to close
- Notification that a travel restriction prevented you from going to work
- Documentation from medical personnel showing that you or someone in your household was diagnosed with or sought treatment regarding COVID-19
- A statement about how COVID-19 has caused you to suspend self-employment activities
This article series was produced by the Economic & Food Security Committee of the Maryland Attorney General's Covid-19 Access to Justice Taskforce.