In the current pandemic, millions of Americans have suffered from losing their jobs because they were either deemed unessential for their jobs or their place of business had closed down. Many businesses also had to downsize to accommodate and keep their businesses open. Many also had shifted their businesses online which also fueled a lot of layoffs. Now, if you were, unfortunately, one of those people who suffered from this, you can ask the government to help you out using their relief system which was in place for the unemployed people. So how do you go on doing that? Here is how to claim unemployment benefits in Maryland.
The Coronavirus aid Relief and Economic Security Act
Before we talk about unemployment claims, the very first thing we would like to mention is what the government is currently doing for the pandemic relief the people. The loss of active employment has meant the loss of active spending capabilities for many people. This has caused the economy to go down as the American economy is mostly consumer-centric. As long as the markets are open and people are spending their money, the economy will be stable. However, during the current pandemic, many businesses have to close down so that they will not have to risk getting infected by this deadly disease.
The loss of consumerism has caused the economy to go down. Now to manage this and bring some life back to markets, The United state Congress has passed a two-trillion dollar stimulus package which is to give direct cash to every adult working and nonworking American. The Package also had a clause that helped with unemployment benefits. There have been three successful rounds of the stimulus package as of the writing of this article and President Biden has just recently signed into law the third round of the Stimulus package which will provide cash assistance to the tax paying individuals.
Here are some aspects of the stimulus package that will be given to Americans as soon as this weekend:
- A direct cash deposit, prepaid credit card, or a check of 1400 dollars will be given to each tax-paying individual earning up to 75000 dollars. A partial payment will be made to those who are earning $80000 per year.
- A sum of $2800 will be paid for married couples with an extra $1400 each for their dependents.
- The income will be determined using the filed tax returns from 2019 or 2020.
There are also clauses for unemployment which are as follows:
- The Unemployment benefits provided by the state will be supplemented with an extra 600 dollars that will be supported by the federal CARES Act.
- The unemployment benefits which are provided for up to 39 weeks will be extended for 13 more weeks to help the people in these trying times.
- People who are working as freelance contractors will also be given unemployment benefits.
How to file an unemployment claim?
If you are looking for how to claim unemployment benefits in Maryland then there are many ways you can apply for it. You should check on the website of the Maryland Department of Labor what you are going to need and which information they require from you.
Generally here is the information the Labor department usually asks the Claimants to provide:
- Social Security Number
- Alien Registration Card in case of non-US citizens
- Driver License
- Case of former military personnel have served in the last 18 months would be required to show their DD214-Member 4 document
- In the case of a former Federal Government Employee, the claimant will need to produce Form 50 or SF-8
- State ID card number
- ZIP code and mailing address
- Phone Number
- Names, Date of Birth, and Social security number for each of the dependent the claimant has
- The credentials of previous employers where you worked for in the last two years.
The application usually takes a few weeks to process until you can expect to receive your unemployment benefits. The unemployment benefits can be expected through the channel of direct deposit, mail-in check, or a debit card. Once the claim is approved by the Department of Labor, you can start expecting your unemployment checks by filing them every week.
Eligibility Criteria for Maryland Unemployment Benefits
There are requirements that the claimant has to be fulfilling if they want to receive unemployment in the state of Maryland. Here are those:
- The Claimant who is applying for unemployment benefits must not have become unemployed with some fault of their own. This means the employee must have infringed upon the interest of the employer or committed various misconducts which compelled the employer to fire him. There may also be terminations for the cause which may be eligible after they have spent the disqualification period.
- The claimant must be “Monetary Eligible”. This means that they should have worked in the standard base period. The standard base period means the first four quarters of the five quarters since the date of the filing of the application.
- The Claimant must actively be looking for employment and must be available to accept any job role at a moment’s notice.
The Monetary compensation you are expecting to receive will be almost 50 percent of your base period paycheck.
What is Unemployment due to no fault of your own?
What constitutes “Unemployment due to no fault of your own”. Here are some examples which will shed light on it.
In the current pandemic, many businesses either went out of business or had their staff downsized which caused many people to be laid off. If you are one of them then you can claim unemployment benefits.
Now, what if the person who wishes to claim unemployment benefits was fired from their previous job. Well if the claimant was fired because they lacked the necessary skill that allowed them to do the job or were not a good fit for the company then they will be able to receive unemployment.
The people who become unemployed must have done something that made them lose their job. They must have committed misconduct which was an intentional violation of the company rules and they have failed to meet the standard that the employer expects of them. There may also be some people who are fired for going to work under the influence of controlled substances or alcohol. There may also be people who despite multiple warnings were absent to work without prior notice. These claimants wishing to file for unemployment are deemed ineligible for receiving it.
There may also be people who were terminated for cause and their actions did not level up to misconduct. Such individuals can claim unemployment benefits after they have spent the disqualification period which lasts anywhere between 5 to 19 weeks.
Quitting your Job
Now there might be a case to be made for the people who have quit their job for not being able to claim unemployment as they have left a job themselves. Now, this usually depends on a case-by-case basis. There might be people who have left a perfectly good job and landed in the unemployment office just because the remuneration for their work was not up to their standards. These individuals are deemed ineligible to receive unemployment benefits.
However, there are many individuals which quit their jobs because of specific things that do not allow them to continue working in an office.
- The Employee is not satisfied with the working conditions inside the office. There may also be some health and safety hazards that do not allow them to work inside the office.
- The employer had infringed on the agreement which they had made with the employees.
- Various family reasons compelled them to quit their job.
- The Employer was not doing anything about the health and safety risks.
If these are some of the reasons the individual had to quit the job, then they may be eligible to claim unemployment benefits in Maryland. However, they may have to prove that quitting was the last resort and they did everything in their power to circumvent taking this decision.
Actively looking for employment
The Claimant also has to prove without any reasonable doubt that they are available and actively looking for a job role that could be deemed fit. In the first few weeks on unemployment, they will be expected to pursue roles that are up to their skill and standards however if they are not able to find roles that are up to their standards, then the unemployment office expects them to lower them so that they can find a job that may have a lower skill level and pay.
Appealing Denial of Unemployment
If for some reason your unemployment benefits were denied then you can appeal that outcome. You should file your application in a written form and send it using mail-in or fax. The address for the appeal division is as follows:
1100 N. Eutaw Street, Room 505,
Baltimore, MD 21201