Begin Main Content Area

Financial Eligibility

The Notice of Financial Determination

You will be mailed a Notice of Financial Determination (Form UC-44F). This determination lists your employers and the amount of wages paid in each quarter of your base year. The Notice determines your "financial eligibility" for UC benefits based on your highest quarterly wages, total base-year wages and credit weeks during the base year. If you are financially eligible, this determination will establish your weekly benefit rate, partial benefit credit, maximum benefit entitlement and your allowance for dependents. If you are financially ineligible, the determination tells you the reason for your ineligibility.

You should read this financial determination carefully to be sure that all the information is correct. Make sure that the base-year wages have been reported correctly. If there are any employers or wages missing on the form or you have any questions about this determination, call the UC service center immediately.

In addition, you must file a wage protest or an appeal if you disagree with the determination. If you wish to protest or file an appeal, you must do so before the date in the "Right to Appeal" section listed on the bottom of the Notice of Financial Determination.

To learn more about wage protests or appeals, view our appeals page.

Application for Benefits Date

The Application for Benefits (AB) date is the date of the Sunday that begins the week in which you apply for benefits. The AB date determines your base year and the start of your benefit year.

Benefit Year

The benefit year is a period of 52 consecutive weeks beginning with the AB date. You may file claims for waiting week credit and for UC benefits for weeks of unemployment occurring within your benefit year.

Base Year

The base year is generally the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters prior to the AB date. The amount of money you were paid by all employers covered by the UC Law during the "base year," determines whether you qualify for benefits and for what amount.

Example: If the effective date of your application for benefits is in the months of July, August, or September of 2020, your base year begins April 1, 2019, and ends March 2020.

base-year-diagram.jpg 

Credit Weeks

Additionally, you must also satisfy the credit week requirement to be considered eligible to receive UC benefits. A credit week is any calendar week (Sunday through Saturday) within the base year in which an individual earned $116 or more, no matter when paid. You may have only one credit week per calendar week.

The total amount of UC benefits that you may receive during the benefit year is called the "maximum benefit amount" and is dependent on the number of credit weeks in the base year. If you have at least 18 credit weeks, your maximum benefit amount is the amount corresponding to the number of credit weeks during your base year, multiplied by your weekly benefit rate. However, your maximum benefit amount may not exceed 26 times your weekly benefit rate. You are not eligible to receive benefits if you have fewer than 18 credit weeks in the base year.

Individuals who do not meet wage and credit week requirements due to a work-related injury, may request a redetermination using an alternate base year. This alternate base year consists of the four completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the date of the work-related injury. For the alternate base year rules to apply, the work-related injury must be compensable under the Workers' Compensation Act. If you receive a Notice of Financial Determination indicating that you are ineligible for benefits and you want a calculation using the alternate base year rules, you must file a timely appeal from the determination and request a redetermination from the UC service center.