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Unemployment Guru

How is my benefit calculated?

Updated: Feb 9, 2021

W2: Your UI benefit is based on your Highest Quarterly Earnings

  • Here is a fact sheet on how they compute your benefits.

  • Here is a calculator. Enter W2 work only. UI does not consider 1099 as contributions to your benefit, unless you are notating that it was misclassified as 1099 and should be W2 income.

  • If you earn over $11,674.01 in one of your quarters, you will qualify for the maximum. See this benefit table.

  • Another way to calculate:

(highest quarterly earning) x .0385 = approx. your weekly benefit amount


PUA: Based on your 2019 income, divided that by 4 to get the four quarters

  • You can use this benefit table to see what your weekly benefit amount will be

  • You can also multiply that number by .0385 to get an estimate



Summary of the links

  • UI bases your benefit on your highest quarterly earnings.

  • UI will look at the standard base period, which skips a quarter prior to when you applied.


For example, if you applied in March, you were in the first quarter of the year. They will skip the PRIOR QUARTER, which was Oct-Dec. (See fact sheet for definition of standard base period. All the months prior to that will be the income that is considered to calculate your benefit amount.

  • If you did NOT make enough money in your standard base period, EDD will automatically look at the alternate base period. See here.


 

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Tools & Resources:

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Tools & Calculators

Unemployment Gurus has tools and calculators to figure out those really confusing questions:

  • How much can I earn and still qualify for the FPUC $300 from the new stimulus?

  • Do I qualify for FED-ED?

  • How much will I get if I work?

  • What is my standard base period?

  • Do I qualify for LWA?

  • Am I eligible for UI?

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