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SD UI Wage Requirements and Benefit Amount

To be eligible for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits, you must have been employed by an employer who paid the UI payroll tax, and you must have had sufficient earnings during your Base Period.

And the amount of your benefits will be dependent on both your previous earnings and earnings you have during each weekly claim period. (See Benefit Amount below.)

Base Period

In order to determine whether or not you are earnings-eligible for UI and the amount of your benefit, the Department of Labor looks at your earnings during a period called your Base Period.

Your Base Period is defined as: The first four of the last five completed calendar quarters prior to the effective date of your new claim for UI benefits.

Explanation: Calendar quarters are three-month periods, January thru March, April thru June, July thru September, and October thru December. If you filed an application in August, then the completed quarter prior to your application date would be April thru June. And your Base Period would be the year (four quarters) from the previous April thru that March.

NOTE: There is a special base period for persons who are not monetarily eligible because they have not worked for an extended period due to a work-related injury. This base period can only be used if a claim is filed within 24 months after the injury.

The chart below can be used to determine the regular base period for your claim. It provides a visual representation of the base period as explained in the text above.

Examples: If you file your claim in May, your base period is the previous January through December. If you file your claim in November, your base period is the previous July through June.

Eligibility - Wage Requirements

To qualify for UI benefits:

·       You must have been paid wages for insured work, or for civilian employment with the federal government, or for active duty in the military service in two or more quarters of your Base Period.

·      You must have earned at least $728 in one of the Base Period Quarters.

·      Your weekly benefit is 1/26th of the wages paid in the highest quarter of your base period, up to a maximum benefit of $285.

·      Your wages in the other three quarters of your base period must have been at least 20 times your weekly benefit.

·      The maximum amount payable in your benefit year is one-third your total base period wages, but not more than 26 times your weekly benefit.

Example 1 - Low Wages

If your wages during the highest quarter were $900, or $300 per month, then your weekly benefit amount would be 1/26th of $900 = $34.62 per week.

In order to be eligible, you would have had to have earned 20 times $34.62 = $692.40 during the other three quarters of your Base Period.

Let's say you earned $700 during that time. Then your maximum benefit would be the lowest of two amounts:

·      1/3rd of $900 plus $700, or 1/3rd of $1,600 = $533.33; or

·      26 times $34.62 = $900.12

Which means that you would get a maximum of $533.33. So you would receive your full benefit for only 15 weeks. (Divide $533.33 by $34.62 = 15.4)

Example 2 - Higher Wages

If your wages during the highest quarter were $7,500, or $2,500 per month, then your weekly benefit amount would be calculated as 1/26th of $7,500 = $288.46 per week. But you would get only the maximum of $256 per week.

In order to be eligible, you would have had to have earned 20 times $256 = $5,120 during the other three quarters of your Base Period.

Let's say you had earned $2,500 per month, or $22,500 during that time. Then your maximum benefit would be the lowest of two amounts:

·      1/3rd of $7,500 plus $22,500, or 1/3rd of $30,000 = $10,000; or

·      26 times $256 = $6,656.

Which means that you would get a maximum of $6,656. So you would receive the $256 weekly maximum benefit for 26 weeks.

Benefit Amount

If your earnings do not exceed your weekly benefit amount, and if you worked less than 40 hours for the week, you may be eligible for partial benefits. You must report your earnings on your weekly claim form. Your benefit is reduced as follows:

·      No reduction from your weekly benefit will be made for the first $25 you earn for the week.

·      Seventy-five percent of earnings over $25 will be deducted from your weekly benefit.

·      You will not be eligible for benefits if your gross earnings are equal to or more than your weekly benefit amount.

·      You will not be eligible for benefits if you worked 40 hours or more regardless of the amount of earnings

Other payments you may receive are deducted on a dollar-for-dollar basis from your benefits and MUST be reported on your weekly claim form. Payments that are deductible include:

·      Vacation Pay

·      Annual Leave Pay

·      Wages in Lieu of Notice

·      Temporary/Partial Workers' Compensation

·      Severance Pay

·      Holiday Pay

·      Back Pay

·      Termination Pay

·      Dismissal Pay

·      Sick Leave Pay

If you receive Social Security retirement benefits then your UI benefits are reduced. The UI benefit is reduced by 50% of the gross amount (before any Medicare deduction) of your retirement benefits.

Example: If the gross amount of your retirement benefit is $800 per month. Then your weekly UI benefit would be reduced by $800 divided by 2 and divided by 4.3 weeks per month. ($800 / 2 / 4.3 = $93.02)

Pensions, annuities, and retirement payments reduce your UI benefit if the pension, annuity or retirement payment is earned with a Base Period employer. However, only that portion of the pension, annuity, or retirement payment, which is based on payments made by the employer, is deductible from your benefits.

Source:

http://www.state.sd.us/applications/LD01DOL/default.asp?navid=41

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Unemployment Insurance (UI)

SD Dept of Labor - Overview

Welcome and Introduction to the South Dakota Benefits Information System

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