Unemployment Resource
Phone: (800) 827-4839
Eligibility
Eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits cannot be determined until you actually file a claim. If you are unemployed, file your claim as soon as possible, as your eligibility begins the week in which you file your claim. Your claim becomes effective the Sunday of the week during which you apply for benefits. In addition, you must be unemployed through no fault of your own, be able to work, available for work, looking for full-time work, and willing to accept a job for which you are qualified.
Whether you are just now filing for or are currently receiving unemployment insurance benefits, you must:
- be able to work, available for work and you must make an active search for full-time work;
- report all wages earned each week;
- report all monies received by you (e.g., vacation pay, severance pay, pension payments, etc.);
- be available and/or contact OUI when directed to do so;
- report to the Maryland Job Service when required to do so;
- accept suitable work as defined by law;
- file timely bi-weekly claims.
File a claim
The Office of Unemployment Insurance has an automated telephone information system that is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This system efficiently answers questions and provides you with better service. This is the Claimant Information Service referred to in many of these questions.
For those who live in the Baltimore area or in a state other than Maryland, you may file a claim for unemployment insurance benefits by calling (410) 949-0022 or the TTY number for the hearing impaired at (410) 767-2727.
For those who live in Maryland outside the Baltimore area, you may file a claim for unemployment insurance benefits by calling 1-800-827-4839 or the TTY number for the hearing impaired at 1-800-827-4400.
The Claimant Information Service will allow you to:
- File your Telecert for the most recent week(s) of unemployment
- Change your address during working hours
- The Claimant Information Service will be able to tell you:
- The closest Maryland unemployment insurance Claim Center to your home and provide you with the correct telephone number to call to file your claim
- The date and amount of the last check issued to you in the last 28 days
The Claimant Information Service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For those people with special questions or problems, the Inquiry and Correspondence Unit operators are available to help you between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. (Eastern Time) on any week day excluding state holidays.
A message on the system will ask you to press a certain number on the telephone keypad if you want information from an operator. When you press this key, you will be transferred to the inquiry and correspondence unit. The first available operator will answer your call. Calls are answered in the order received.
When filing an initial claim, you will need to have the following items:
- your name, Social security number, address and telephone number;
- if you are claiming dependents, you will need their names, birth dates and social security numbers; and
- the name, complete payroll address, telephone number and reason for separation for each employer you worked for in the 18 months prior to filing your claim.
The weekly benefit amount (WBA) is based on the amount that you were paid by all employers for whom you worked during the base period. Your base period is the first four of the last five calendar quarters completed before you file your new claim for benefits.
If you worked full-time during the four quarters, your WBA will be approximately one-half of your gross weekly wage up to the maximum weekly benefit amount in effect at the time. You must have earnings in at least two of the four quarters of the base period.
If you have worked outside of Maryland or for the Federal government or served in the Armed Services during your base period, you must report this information when you file your claim. Under certain circumstances, these wages can be combined with your Maryland wages to give you a higher weekly benefit amount.
If you have no Maryland wages during the base period, you may be required to file a Federal claim or an interstate claim. OUI staff will help you with this process.
If you remain totally unemployed and otherwise remain eligible, you may receive 26 times your weekly benefit amount. This is the maximum amount of unemployment insurance benefits payable under the law.
Since Maryland has a bi-weekly claim processing system, you will receive a check every two (2) weeks, with the exception of the first week for which you claim benefits. Under normal circumstances, your first check will represent one week of benefits and each check thereafter will usually cover two weeks of benefits.
You may file claims for more than 26 weeks if you earn some wages and partial benefits are paid. If you have received all the benefits to which you are entitled (normally 26 weeks), then you may receive no more until the benefit year is over, even if you work again and become unemployed.
NOTE: If you file for more than 26 weeks of benefits, no more than 26 weeks of dependents' allowance can be paid in a benefit year. However, during periods of extremely high unemployment, a special Federally funded program may be placed in effect, which provides additional weeks of benefits, including dependents' allowances.
If you are eligible to receive benefits, your first check will normally be mailed within three weeks after filing your first Telecert, and a check should arrive every two weeks after that if you continue to file your bi-weekly Telecerts timely. However, the checks will not always arrive on the same day of the week.
For your convenience, a check stub is provided with pertinent information needed for your records. Be sure to keep your check stubs to refer to if you think you are missing a check or have been paid improperly.
Each time you receive an unemployment insurance check, the "Telephone Claims (Telecert) Notice" (DLLR/OUI SR3-219 (TELE)) for the following two weeks will be inserted with the check. Remember, if you make false statements or fail to give required information in connection with your claim, you may be subject to prosecution for fraud, which could result in a fine up to $1,000 or imprisonment for up to 90 days, or both, plus interest on the fraudulently collected benefits.
