How to File for Unemployment in Minnesota

If you have recently lost your job in Minnesota you should file for unemployment benefits. If you were fired or laid off from a job through no misconduct of your own, you will likely qualify. If you quit due to a change in your work conditions or due to an unsafe or hazardous work environment, you may qualify as well. Whatever the case, file as soon as possible to minimize any potential breaks in your income stream.

Instructions

1. Evaluate whether you are eligible to file for unemployment insurance in Minnesota. Have you lost your job or have your hours been significantly reduced (to less than 32 hours per week) from no fault of your own? Did you work in Minnesota in the last 18 months? Were you honorable discharged from military service and reside in Minnesota? Review the following types of employment. They are not eligible for unemployment in Minnesota:

   1. employment by most churches or religious organizations
   2. employed as a "sheltered" worker in a rehabilitation facility
   3. employed in a government work relief or training program
   4. student employment/work study
   5. academic and hospital internship, and student nursing
   6. commission-based insurance and real estate sales, and employment as a direct seller
   7. agricultural employment if performed for someone who did not pay $20,000 in wages in a calendar quarter in the current or prior calendar year AND who did not employ four or more employees and provide employment in 20 weeks in the current or prior calendar year.

2. Collect the following information before you begin to fill out your unemployment application online:

   Your Social Security number

   Your Minnesota driver's license number or other state government ID number

   Mailing address

   Telephone number where you can be contacted

   Date of Birth

   Gather your employment history for the past 18 months, including:
   Each employer's name, address and telephone number, and dates of employment (month and year, the pay rate, the reason you no longer work for each employer, and a union name and local/lodge number, if applicable.

   If you served in the military during the last 18 months, have your DD-214 Member

   If you were a federal employee in the last 18 months, you will need information from your SF 8

   If you wish to choose direct deposit, you will need your bank account number and bank routing number (this can be requested a later time as well).

   If you are not a U.S. citizen you will need your Alien Registration number.

3. Click on the Unemployment Insurance Minnesota link in the References section between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. and click on "Apply for UI Benefits" banner. A hyperlink is also provided in the resources section of this article.

   If you need to stop filling out the application for any reason, the Minnesota online unemployment application website is designed to save the data you have entered for the remainder of the business day. It is highly recommended that once you start filling out the forms to finish. The forms take approximately 30 to 45 minutes to complete.

4. At the login screen, enter your Social Security number and click the Submit button.

   Click on "Start the Unemployment Benefit Application".

5. Complete all the information requested on each screens. Click on "Submit the Unemployment Benefit Application". At this point you can review all the information you typed. If you need to make changes, do so before proceeding. Complete and confirm the information you entered. Once you have completed all these steps, you have now filed for unemployment in Minnesota.

Tips & Warnings

• If you qualify, you can receive up to 50 percent of your normal working wages per week up to a state maximum of $566.

• Make sure you keep up with earnings updates as required after you start receiving benefits in order to keep receiving unemployment benefits.

• Do not enter false information into the unemployment application system. This is against the law.

References

• Unemployment Insurance Minnesota: Unemployment Insurance Program