Am I Monetarily ineligible for unemployment in New Jersey?

by M
(NJ Unemployment Benefits)

Am I Monetarily ineligible for unemployment in New Jersey?


My daughter moved to NJ after graduating from UCF in 12/97. She secured a FT position in March and was laid off in Nov. During this time period she also worked a PT Job. She was told that since she was not in NJ for 18 months she would file based on her jobs in Florida which were PT as she was a student. Also, she was told she cannot collect due to PT wages. The $275 she would receive based on Florida unemployment rate is considerably less than the $600 per week she was making FT. her PT earnings are approx $300.00 per week-no benefits. In addition the combined total of NJ benefit and PT earnings is less than what she was making at her FT job.

She paid into unemployment on both jobs. Why can't she collect on the basis of losing her FT job? She was diligent and is being punished for it.



Answer

Hi,

Where does your daughter live? When did she move to NJ? 12/97 is over 12 years ago. What type of job did she have when she was a student? What were the dates of employment? If she was a student worker, there are circumstances when that is not considered covered employment.

Every state has "minimum qualifying wages" to be eligible for unemployment. If you want me to help you understand, I need dates...in a chronological order. Or you can take a look at this chartbook. It's for 2008, but it can show you what a base period is and other requirement necessary for unemployment....New Jersey residents may have to pay some unemployment tax...but the amount is nominal.