Unemployment Resource
Phone: (401) 243-9100
Eligibility
To qualify for Unemployment Insurance, you must meet certain earnings requirements. While these requirements are explained to you in detail, please do not use this information to try to determine your own eligibility.
If you are laid off, we strongly urge you to apply for benefits. We will determine whether you qualify based on all the facts relating to your claim and notify you as quickly as possible.
You must be unemployed through no fault of your own. You must be able to work, available for work, and searching for work. You must always be willing to accept a suitable job while you are claiming benefits.
File a claim
Unemployment Insurance is a program that provides benefits to insured and eligible persons who are out of work through no fault of their own. The program is financed by an employer tax. Eligibility requirements are explained under "Unemployment Insurance Questions" below. The days of waiting in long lines for benefits are gone. Now a displaced worker can file for benefits by phone or online. The process is fast and easy.
To file a claim for Unemployment Insurance, you should call the Call Center at the numbers listed below to file your claim.
- Claims Intake and General Claims Information (401) 243-9100
- Employer Inquiries (401) 243-9137
- Workshare (401) 243-9177
- Interstate — If calling from out of state, Interstate Claims (401) 243-9146 (866) 557-0001
- TDD (401) 243-9149
If you become unemployed, your claim should be filed within seven (7) days of your last day of employment to avoid jeopardizing or delaying your first payment. Usually, the Call Center is less busy later in the week.
When you call to file an unemployment insurance claim you will need to provide your social security number and the full name, address and telephone number of all employers you have worked for in the last two years. If you are not a United States citizen, you must provide your alien registration number.
Should you find it necessary to inquire about your claim, call the main Call Center number at (401) 243-9100.
To be eligible for benefits, you must have been paid at least $7,380 in either your Base Period or an Alternate Base Period (both are explained in the following sections). If you did not earn this amount, you may be eligible if you meet all of the following conditions:
- You were paid at least $1230 in one of your Base Period quarters, and
- You were paid total Base Period wages of at least one and one-half times your highest single quarter earnings, and
- You were paid total Base Period wages of at least $2460.
Also, if you have had a previous claim, you must have worked again since filing that claim and must have been paid wages of at least eighty times the Rhode Island minimum hourly wage of $6.15, or $492.
The Base Period is the period that we look at to determine if you have been paid sufficient wages to be eligible. Normally, your Base Period consists of the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before the starting date of your new claim. The calendar quarters are: January 1 through March 31; April 1 through June 30; July 1 through September 30; October 1 through December 31.
If wages from one of these quarters had to be used to establish a previous claim using the alternate Base Period (explained in the next Section), that quarter's wages cannot be used again to compute your current claim.
If you submit a new claim starting on or after October 4, 1992, and you do not meet the minimum earnings requirements in the regular Base Period, we will recompute your claim using an Alternate Base Period. This period consists of the last four completed calendar quarters before the starting date of your claim. While you must still meet the same overall earnings requirements, the Alternate Base Period will allow some of your more recent wages to be counted towards establishing your claim.
Your claim will start with the Sunday of the week in which you first file your claim if you are totally unemployed or employed part-time and earn less than your benefit rate. This begins your Benefit Year. The Benefit Year is a 52-week period. In instances when a subsequent claim would cause base periods to overlap, the benefit year is 53 weeks. Any additional claims (refiles) you submit during this period will have the same Benefit Year.
Most eligible customers get their first check during their third week of unemployment.
You must serve a Waiting Period at the start of your new claim. The seven-day period is a Sunday through Saturday in which you are totally unemployed or you work a partial week and your earnings are less than your Benefit Rate. In either case you would be entitled to a Waiting Period for that week.
Your weekly benefit rate will be equal to 4.62% of the wages paid to you in the highest quarter of your Base Period. By law, a maximum weekly benefit rate is determined annually. It is equal to 67% of the average weekly wage of all workers covered by the Employment Security Act. Your weekly benefit rate remains the same throughout your benefit year. Our current minimum ($56.00) and maximum ($427.00) benefit rate does not include dependency allowance.
The duration of your claim is equal to 36% of your total base period wages divided by your basic weekly benefit rate (not including dependent's allowance).
The most you are allowed to collect is an amount equal to 26 full weeks. You may claim these weeks any time you are unemployed during your benefit year.
How to File a Claim through the UI Call Center Main Numbers:
- Claims Intake and General Claims Information (401) 243-9100
- Employer Inquiries (401) 243-9137
- Workshare (401) 243-9177
- Interstate — If calling from out of state, Interstate Claims (401) 243-9146 (866) 557-0001
- TDD (401) 243-9149
Customers may call the Call Center Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.
You will need to provide the following information in order to file an Unemployment Insurance Claim:
- Social Security Number
- Full name, address and telephone number of all employers you have worked for in the last two years.
- If you are not a US citizen, you will need your alien registration number. Please be sure you have all of the above information BEFORE calling to file your claim.
Source: Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training
