How to Work & Collect Unemployment
The path from unemployment to employment often isn't as simple as "send out resumes, interview, be hired." You may need to gain experience in a new skill to round out your resume, and taking a part-time or short-term job may be the best way to gain the skill. Employers may want to test you out with contract work before they hire you. Or you may simply need more money than your unemployment benefits provide. No matter your reason, there is a way to work without jeopardizing your unemployment benefits.
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Instructions
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Learn the unemployment laws in your state. Every state is different, so learn in detail exactly what your state allows and requires. This may take research on legitimate legal advice sites as well as on your state's unemployment site, because the official state site may not explain its unemployment program in the depth you need to fully understand your situation.
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Calculate how much you can earn per week without losing any benefits, with a partial loss in benefits, and with a full loss of benefits. For example, in Massachusetts, unemployed workers can earn up to a third of their benefits without losing money, and they lose a dollar of benefits for each dollar earned after that. A worker whose weekly benefit was $300 could earn $100 per week without losing benefits. If she earned $150 for the week, her unemployment benefits would drop to $250 for that week, and if she earned $400, she would not get any benefits for the week because she had earned the full value of her unemployment benefits plus the one-third earnings allowance. Know exactly how your state calculates benefits so you can manage your finances while you work part-time.
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Report your earnings and/or your hours worked when you file for unemployment each week. Resist the urge to under report your earnings--you may sorely need the money, but the trouble you'll draw if you're caught won't be worth it.
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Continue to meet all of your state's expectations for a person drawing unemployment benefits while you work. For instance, if you are required to keep a work search log, maintain the log, even though it may be hard to keep up a work search while your energy is being spent at work. If an unemployment requirement like a mandatory training session interferes with your work, call an unemployment agent and explain the situation. Unemployment agents understand what it's like to work part-time while claiming unemployment, and will be eager to keep you working. They can help you reschedule training sessions, agent meetings and other obligations that interfere with your work schedule.
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Save money for weeks when you can't collect benefits. Mistakes happen--employers report the wrong reason for termination, computer systems go haywire, unemployment agents lose your paperwork. In addition, many states have a lag of a week or two between reopening your unemployment claim and sending you benefit checks. Assume that your benefits will be interrupted once or twice, and plan accordingly.
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