Am I Eligible for Unemployment Benefits in New Jersey?

 

To qualify for unemployment benefits in New Jersey, you must meet a minimum earnings requirement and you must be unemployed through no fault of your own.

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To qualify for unemployment benefits in New Jersey, you must meet two basic requirements:

  • you must have earned at least a minimum amount (and/or worked a certain amount of time) before you lost your job, and
  • you must be out of work through no fault of your own.

If you meet these two qualifications when you apply, you will likely be eligible to receive unemployment benefits. (To keep receiving benefits after you are found eligible, you will also have to meet your state’s job search requirements; to learn more, see What Do I Have to Do to Keep Receiving Unemployment Benefits in New Jersey?)

Gig workers, freelancers, and contractors are no longer eligible for benefits. In response to the COVID-19 public health emergency, Congress greatly expanded eligibility for unemployment. Among other things, these programs provided benefits to gig workers and other contract workers who are not eligible for traditional unemployment benefits. However, these programs expired in every state on September 6, 2021; about half the states cut off these benefits even earlier. 

Eligibility Requirement 1: Minimum Earnings

Unemployment benefits are available only to those who are temporarily out of work. If you apply after being out of the workforce for years, for example, you won’t qualify for benefits. You must have been employed relatively recently, and earned at least a minimum amount, to be eligible.

States look at an applicant’s work history during a stretch of time called the “base period.”

In New Jersey, the base period is the first four of the five complete calendar quarters immediately before you filed for benefits. For example, if you file for benefits on March 15, 2022, your base period will be from October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021. It would not include the most recent complete calendar quarter before you filed (October 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021) or the first two-and-a-half months of 2022.

Some states require only that you earn a minimum amount of money during the base period; other states require, either in addition or instead, that you have done some work in more than one quarter of the base period.

To qualify for benefits in New Jersey, you must have either:

  • worked at least 20 base weeks, during which you earned at least $260 per week, or
  • earned at least $13,000 during the entire base period. 

If you did not earn enough to qualify for benefits during the regular base period, you may be able to use an alternate base period that counts more recent earnings. New Jersey has two alternate base periods. First, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development will look at your earnings during the last four complete calendar quarters before you file your claim. If you still don't have sufficient earnings during that period, it will look at your earnings during the last three complete calendar quarters before you file your claim, plus any weeks you have worked in the quarter in which you file. 

Eligibility Requirement 2: Reasons for Unemployment

To qualify for unemployment benefits, you must be out of work through no fault of your own. If you lose your job in a layoff, reduction-in-force (RIF), downsizing, or similar job action in which positions are cut for financial or strategic reasons, you will be eligible for benefits.

However, you don’t have to be laid off to collect unemployment. You may still be eligible even if you quit your job or you were fired, depending on the circumstances.

If You Quit Your Job

You will not be eligible to receive benefits in New Jersey if you quit your job without good cause connected with your work. You must have a reason for quitting that is directly related to your job and so compelling that you had no choice but to quit. There are some exceptions, including quitting for reasons relating to domestic violence or to move with a military spouse who is transferred out of state. 

In some states, you will be disqualified from receiving benefits for a certain number of weeks. In other states, you may be disqualified until you get another job and earn a minimum amount (typically, this amount is less than you would have to earn to qualify for benefits in the first place). Check the Unemployment Insurance: Your Rights and Responsibilities for more information about disqualification based on why you quit your job. 

If You Were Fired

In New Jersey, you will be disqualified from receiving benefits if you are fired for misconduct. The state classifies misconduct as simple, severe, and gross. The disqualification period is shortest for simple misconduct and longest for gross misconduct. For more information, see Requirements for Payment: Fired

You may be disqualified either for a set number of weeks or until you get another job and earn a minimum amount, depending on state law. In some states, the length of the disqualification period depends on why you were fired. You can learn more about disqualification based on the reason you were fired in the Unemployment Insurance: Your Rights and Responsibilities

If You Are Still Employed

If you are still working but need time off for reasons relating to COVID-19 or other health issues, you may be eligible for paid sick leave under your state's law. See Am I Entitled to Paid Sick Leave, Family Leave, or Vacation Time in New Jersey to learn more. 


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Jurisdictional relevance: ST

There are versions of this article for each State.