Unemployment Resource
Eligibility
The law sets qualifying requirements in three main areas: your past wages, your job separation, and ongoing availability and work search requirements. You must meet all of the following qualifying requirements in order to receive benefits.
Past Wages: You must have earned enough wages in your base period. The base period is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you filed your claim.
Reason for separation from your last work: You must be unemployed or partially unemployed through no fault of your own in order to receive benefits.
Ongoing availability and work search: You must be physically able and available to work. You must also be actively seeking work. If you are temporarily laid off and have a definite return-to-work date, your work search requirements may be waived.
File a claim
Unemployment insurance is a program designed to provide temporary financial assistance to workers who are unemployed through no fault of their own and who meet the requirements of the Louisiana Employment Security Law. UI benefits are paid as a matter of past employment and legal entitlement, and not on the basis of need.
To file a claim for unemployment insurance, report in person to the nearest Job Center with proof of identification, such as a driver's license, and a social security card. Bring the names and addresses and job-site locations of any employers for whom you worked during the last 18 months.
State of Louisiana Unemployment Benefit Information
If you served in the military during the last 18 months, bring in your member-4 copy of your DD214. If you worked for a federal employer during the last 18 months, bring in proof of wages. Also bring your SF-8 and SF-50, if available. However, do not delay filing if you cannot locate your federal documents.
No matter in which state you may have worked, or in which state you may now live, you can file your UI claim in the Job Center closest to your current place of residence. Personnel in that office will assist you in determining against which state you should file. There is a Job Center or a State Employment Office in nearly every large town in the United States. Consult your telephone directory for the office that serves your area.
In most cases, the first unemployment check is received three weeks after the claim has been filed.
My checks always arrive on Thursdays, and today it didn't. What should I do? Wait. Although checks often arrive on the same day of the week, they are occasionally later due to mail service or government holidays. If you have not received your check within seven days of the date you mailed or phoned in your certification, you should contact your local Job Center.
Your weekly UI benefit check can be electronically deposited into an account of your choice with any bank. Contact your local office if you are interested in this service.
At this time, Louisiana does not offer any extended benefits. If you exhaust your benefits before the end of your benefit year, you must wait until your benefit year has ended before you can file a new claim against Louisiana.
However, you may be entitled to interstate UI benefits if you worked in another state; or you may be entitled to Trade Readjustment Act Benefits if you worked for a company that was adversely affected by foreign imports.
Any UI benefits you receive are taxable income. You will be issued Form 1099G at the end of January showing the amount of benefits paid to you, as well as any federal income tax withheld at the time the benefits were paid. The amount on the 1099G is not reduced by any repayments you may have made for overpaid benefits. Therefore, if you repaid any benefits, you must maintain your record of payment, such as reimbursement receipts or canceled check notices to make adjustments to your taxable income and as documentation for the federal Internal Revenue Service and State Tax Office when you file your tax returns.
If you have received a "Notice of Claim Determination" or a "Notice of Overpayment" with which you disagree, you may appeal that determination within 15 days of the mailing date of the document. By doing so, you are requesting a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge.
The appeal may be filed by visiting the Job Center nearest your residence within 15 days of the mailing date of the form. You may also file the appeal by mail. Simply address your request to the office or unit listed on the determination, indicating that you wish to appeal.
The letter must be postmarked no more than 15 days from the date of the determination and must be signed by the person filing the appeal. If you file in person, bring the determination with you to the office. If you file the appeal by mail, enclose a copy of the determination with your letter of appeal, and be sure to sign your appeal.
If you appeal as a claimant, you should continue to file weekly claims until a final decision is rendered or until you return to work. When an appeal is filed, it is sent to the Appeals Section where an Administrative Law Judge reviews it and then schedules it for a hearing.
Most hearings are conducted at the office where the claim was filed or at some other hearing location that is within 50 miles of both parties. If both parties are not within 50 miles of a common hearing location, the hearing would be conducted by telephone. The hearing will be conducted as soon as possible.
This is usually about three to four weeks after the date the appeal was filed. A hearing notice will be mailed to the parties. The rules require that the notice be mailed at least 10 days before the date of the hearing.
The written decision is usually mailed to the parties within seven days after the hearing. The Administrative Law Judge's decision can be appealed to the Louisiana Board of Review, following instructions on the decision.
The appeal must be filed within 15 days of the mailing date on the Administrative Law Judge's decision. The decision of the Board of Review can be appealed in the state district courts, also within 15 days of the mailing date, following instructions on the decision.
Louisiana Unemployment Insurance Benefit Centers:
Alexandria: (318) 487-5513
Baton Rouge: (225) 922-0182
Bogalusa: (985) 732-6632
Bossier City: (318) 741-7374
Hammond: (985) 543-4018
Houma: (504) 857-3638
Lafayette: (337) 262-1972
Lake Charles: (337) 475-8600
Monroe: (318) 362-4602
Natchitoches: (318) 357-3149
New Orleans: (504) 568-7151
Shreveport: (318) 676-7703
Slidell: (985) 645-3560
