So I’ve received some email asking about how NH Unemployment Benefits are calculated and, in particular, what the maximum benefit is in NH. Clearly, for someone who’s unemployed, the answer to these questions is important so I decided to do a post on this tonight (rather than watch the Sox).

How NH Unemployment Benefits are Calculated

Once you file for unemployment insurance benefits, NHES calculates what is called a Weekly Benefit Amount (or WBA) based on the covered employment earnings you stated in your application. NHES only counts the covered employment earnings during the first 4 of the last 5 completed quarters (although on occasion NHES will use the last 4 completed quarters) which they call your Base Period. NHES uses the earnings during your Base Period to determine your your eligibility and to calculate your WBA. The Maximum Benefit Amount (or MBA) is generally 26 times the WBA and under normal circumstances is all you would be eligible for during the next 12 month period (or Benefit Year). [NOTE: This only applies to State-funded benefits and you may be eligible for Federal-funded Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) or Extended Benefits (EB) – I’ve talked about these in other posts here and here.]

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So the rules for determining eligibility are a little convoluted but, generally, eligibility is determined as follows:

1. You must have had $2,800 in covered employment earnings (the Minimum Earnings) during the Base Period;

2. You must have worked at least two calendar quarters with earnings of at least $1,400 each during the Base Period; and,

3. If you made a claim in the previous Benefit Year (the 12 month period after you made that claim), you must have earned at least $700 in the previous Benefit Year to qualify for benefits in the current Benefit Year.

I’ll explain #3 a little better since it is confusing. Suppose you were an unemployment insurance benefit claimant as of August 1 (ie you filed a claim with NHES and were approved). The next 12 month period, from this August to August next year, is the Benefit Year and you would need to earn at least $700 in that period to be eligible to file a claim in the next Benefit Year.

So, provided you meet those eligibility criteria, NHES will normally calculate you WBA as follows:

1. Earnings Review: NHES looks at your stated covered employment earnings for the Base Period;

2. The WBA is calculated on a graduated scale; the more you earned during the Base Period the more you are eligible to receive up to a hard cap of $427 per week. NHES will notify you regarding your WBA (see post on Overview of UI Benefits – Part 2).

If you want to try to figure out what your WBA will likely be, you can have use the table on the NHES site located here. As a general rule of thumb though, if you work full time at $10/hr you can expect around $220 per week. Full time at $20/hr would be about $420 per week which approaching the cap of $427 per week.