How Much Unemployment Can I Collect in Kansas?
Kansas' unemployment benefits program provides eligible residents with a form of income while they are out of work. State laws establish guidelines for the duration and amount of your benefits. The specific amount you can receive depends on factors such as the wages you earned from recent employment and the availability of federally funded extensions.
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Weekly Rate
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The Kansas Department of Labor determines your weekly unemployment benefits rate by looking at how much you earned during your base period: the first four of the five most recently completed calendar quarters. The department calculates 4.25 percent of the amount you earned during the highest-earning quarter of your base period. That amount is what you receive each week in unemployment benefits. For example, if you made $10,000 during your highest-earning quarter, you would receive $425 a week. By state law, as of 2011-'12, the maximum you can receive each week is $444. The lowest weekly amount is $111 for people who have earned the minimum needed to become eligible for benefits.
Total Amount
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When state unemployment is relatively normal, you can receive unemployment benefits in Kansas for no more than 26 weeks. Thus, the most you can receive in total unemployment benefits is 26 times $444, or $11,544. Keep in mind that you may not receive 26 weeks of benefits if your base-period earnings too low. According to state law, your total benefits are the lesser of 26 times your weekly benefit amount or one third of your total base-period wages. If your total benefits divided by your weekly benefit amount comes out to less than 26, that is the number of benefit weeks you can receive.
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Extended Benefits
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Kansas has an extended-benefits program for when state unemployment reaches a certain level, allowing you to claim extra weeks of benefits. When the unemployment rate is 6.5 percent or higher, you can receive benefits for an additional 13 weeks at your regular weekly benefit rate. Based on 2011 figures, this would extend the amount of total benefits you could receive at the maximum rate to 39 times $444, or $17,316. The state unemployment rate was at 6.6 percent as of May 2011, meaning Extended Benefits were available.
Federal Benefits
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Since 2008, the federal government has funded extensions of unemployment benefits in all states. The extension lasts a minimum of 34 weeks and a maximum of 53 weeks, depending on the unemployment rate. Based on the unemployment rate in Kansas in 2011, 47 additional weeks of benefits were available, meaning you could receive 86 weeks of benefits all together. At the maximum weekly rate, this would come out to $38,184 in total benefits. The federal benefits will begin phasing out in January 2012 if Congress does not pass a funding extension.
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References
- Kansas Department of Labor: Unemployment Insurance System --- Payment Information
- Kansas Department of Labor: Unemployment Insurance System --- Employer Tax Rates
- Kansas Department of Labor: Unemployment Insurance System --- State Extended Benefits
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Local Area Unemployment Statistics
- Kansas Department of Labor: Unemployment Insurance System --- Emergency Unemployment Compensation 08 (EUC08)
- Kansas Department of Labor: Unemployment Insurance System --- Emergency Unemployment Compensation/State Extended Benefits Information as of March 2011
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