How to Determine Your Unemployment Benefits in Maryland
In Maryland, the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation’s Division of Unemployment Insurance is responsible for paying unemployment benefits. The amount you are eligible to receive depends on how much you were making before you became unemployed. In 2010, the maximum weekly benefit amount, or WBA, paid was $410 and the minimum was $25. You can estimate your WBA by using your gross pay before you became unemployed.
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Instructions
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Find your base pay period. This period is the time the Division of Unemployment Insurance uses to determine your pre-unemployment earnings. It is made up of he first four of the five quarters leading up to when you file your claim. The base pay period for claims filed in January, February and March ends on the previous Sept. 30. The previous Dec. 31 is the end of the base pay period for April, May and June claims. Filings made in July, August and September have base pay periods ending on the previous March 31. October, November and December claims have base periods that end on the previous June 30.
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Calculate your gross earnings from all of your employers for each of the four base pay quarters. Use your pay stubs for this information. Find your gross weekly pay for the base pay period if you worked in a salaried position in which your earnings did not fluctuate.
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Estimate your WBA. If you worked at a full-time salaried position during the base pay period, then as a general rule of thumb, expect your WBA to be about half of your base pay period gross weekly pay, up to the WBA benefits ceiling amount. If you were unemployed for part of the pay period, or if your gross weekly pay fluctuated, take the gross earnings from the quarter in which you earned the most and consult the Maryland Schedule of Benefits (see Resources section). Find your earnings level on that chart, and it will show your WBA.
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References
Resources
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