Displaced Employees: How Do I File For Unemployment Insurance Benefits? 

Unemployment insurance business is conducted by telephone or via the Internet.  Claims can be filed Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., in English or Spanish, or by Internet 24 hours a day 7 days per week at www.mdunemployment.com:

Eligibility for unemployment insurance cannot be determined until you actually file a claim.  To be eligible to receive unemployment insurance benefits you must have worked and had sufficient earnings during the “base period” and be separated from your employment through no fault of your own.  The “base period” is a 12-month period, made up of the first four quarters of the last five totally completed calendar quarters prior to the date you file your claim.  For example, if you file your claim in:

Unemployment insurance benefits range from a weekly benefit amount (WBA) of $25-$380 per week.  Your WBA is determined by wages earned during the base period.  Your claim is effective on the Sunday immediately prior to the date that you file for benefits, and remains in effect for one year.  You can receive up to 26 weeks of total unemployment insurance benefits if you meet all the requirements of the Maryland Unemployment Insurance Law.  During periods of extremely high unemployment, a special federally funded program may be in effect, which provides additional weeks of benefits.

You will receive a Determination of Monetary Eligibility in the mail that will list all of your base period employment, and the earnings that were reported by your employer as paid to you during this period.  If any employer, or any wage amounts are incorrect, you must contact your claim center within 15 days and file a wage protest.  After opening your claim, you will be instructed how to file your continuing claims.