Can I Collect Tennessee Unemployment & Social Security Retirement?
The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development administers the state's unemployment insurance benefits pursuant to the Tennessee Employment Security Law. Eligible claimants are those who are partially or completely unemployed through no fault of their own, meet the monetary eligibility rules, look for alternative work and remain able and ready to accept offered work. Although the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development can reduce a claimant's unemployment benefits for non-Social Security retirement income, it cannot deduct a claimant's unemployment benefits for Social Security retirement income.
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Overview
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The U.S. Social Security Administration operates the Social Security disability and retirement programs. Employers and employees pay mandatory Social Security taxes to fund both programs. The federal government deposits a portion of their tax payments for their personal retirement accounts, and once they receive legal retirement age, they can begin withdrawing their accrued retirement benefits. The Tennessee Employment Security Law requires most Tennessee employers to pay unemployment insurance taxes to fund the state-federal program. Monetary eligibility depends on sufficient earnings during a base period of employment defined as four of five completed quarters of work.
Tennessee Employment Security Law
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Claimants who receive pension benefits or other types of retirement income are subject to a reduction of unemployment insurance benefits. Generally, Tennessee law reduces a claimant's unemployment insurance benefits if an employer wholly subsidized his retirement fund. On the other hand, if a claimant contributed to his retirement or pension account, the state will not reduce his weekly unemployment insurance benefits. Furthermore, if a claimant's pension or retirement pay was from a non-base period employer, the state will not reduce his unemployment insurance benefits. Similarly, if a claimant rolled his retirement or pension funds into an IRA, the state will not reduce his weekly unemployment insurance earnings.
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Social Security Retirement Income
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The Tennessee Department of Workforce and Development cannot reduce a claimant's weekly unemployment benefits if he receives only Social Security retirement income. If a claimant receives both Social Security retirement income and private pension payments from a base period employer, and the claimant did not contribute to his base period employer's pension plan, a portion of his private pension payments will reduce his unemployment insurance benefits. However, if a claimant receives Social Security retirement income and a private pension income from a non-base period employer, the department cannot reduce his weekly unemployment allowance.
Other Limitations
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Military retirement benefits are also not deductible from a claimant's weekly unemployment benefit allowance. Military retirees can receive both types of benefits simultaneously and without reductions unless their branch service employers were also base period employers. In this case, the state will reduce a claimant's weekly unemployment insurance allowance.
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