The base period is the length of time used both to determine your eligibility for unemployment benefits and to calculate the amount you will receive.
In Vermont, 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, 2024, your base period will be from October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2023. It would not include the most recent complete calendar quarter before you filed (October 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023) or the first two-and-a-half months of 2024.
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. Vermont has two alternate base period. First, the Vermont Department of Labor looks at your earnings in the last four complete quarters before you file for benefits. If you don't qualify under this method, the agency will look at your earnings in the last three complete quarters before you file for benefits, plus any earnings in the quarter in which you file for benefits. For example, if you file for benefits on November 1, the agency would consider your earnings in the first three complete calendar quarters (from January 1 through September 30), plus your earnings in October.
If you were out of work and receiving workers' compensation benefits for a total temporary disability during the regular base period, you may be eligible for an extended base period. In Vermont, you will be treated as if you filed for benefits on the date you stopped working due to your temporary disability, as long as you file for benefits within six months after your disability ended.