Maryland Unemployment Benefits, Amount, Services & Filing

Marylanders who have been laid off or seen a substantial reduction in hours during the COVID-19 pandemic are eligible for unemployment insurance (UI). A claimant can request UI benefits for up to 26 weeks. When an individual has exhausted their UI amount, they can claim Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC). A current or former employee can claim PEUC for up to 53 weeks until September 4, 2021.

After the claimant has exhausted PEUC, they can apply for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). An individual may receive up to 79 weeks of PUA benefits until September 4, 2021. Self-employed people and independent contractors who are not eligible for UI or PEUC can claim PUA. Maryland has waived the one-week waiting period for unemployment benefits.

The minimum weekly benefit amount (WBA) for UI in Maryland is $50, and the maximum is $430. A claimant will be paid a weekly dependents' allowance of $8 per dependent, not to exceed the maximum WBA of $430. (A dependent is a child under the age of 16 that the claimant supports.) At the time a claimant files their initial claim, only one parent or guardian may claim a dependent up to a maximum of five dependents in any one-year benefit period.

In order to be eligible to receive unemployment insurance benefits, a claimant must have earned sufficient wages during the standard base period, the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before they file their initial claim. If the individual does not have sufficient wages, the Maryland Division of Unemployment Insurance (DUI) will determine if they are eligible using an alternate base period. This is the four most recently completed calendar quarters of wages earned before filing their initial claim.

The Maryland Department of Labor will mail a Determination of Monetary Eligibility form to a claimant within three days after they have filed their initial claim. This form contains a list of the claimant’s base period employers and earnings. If the claimant needs to correct this form, they should contact a claims agent at 667-207-6520 and ask for a correction as soon as possible. The claimant may need to submit copies of pay stubs, W-2 forms and other proof of wages.

A claimant should certify for their benefit payment on a weekly basis. They must file between 12:01 a.m. Sunday and 5:00 p.m. Friday following the week for which they are requesting benefits. Unemployment insurance claimants who file properly will each receive a processing number. If they do not receive a processing number, they should contact a claims agent. A claimant will must enter their Social Security number and Personal Identification Number (PIN) to access the certification questions.

The Mixed Earners Unemployment Compensation program (MEUC) provides a $100 extra weekly payment to claimants who had a job and earned at least $5,000 in self-employment income in the year prior to when the claimant filed. A claimant must be receiving regular UI, PEUC or work sharing benefits based on W-2 income only to be eligible for MEUC. In other words, an applicant is not eligible for MEUC if they are receiving PUA.

A claimant must provide proof of their employment to be eligible for PUA. BEACON, the state of Maryland's unemployment insurance system, provides a link to upload the required documentation. If the claim effective date is in 2020, the proof must relate to the tax year 2019; if the claim effective date is in 2021, the proof must relate to the tax year 2020.

Acceptable proof of employment includes paycheck stubs, earnings and leave statements showing the employer’s name and address, and W-2 forms when available. A leave statement is a document provided by the employer to the employee, which comprises a written statement showing the employee’s available earned sick and safe leave. Acceptable proof of self-employment includes tax returns or Form 1099s, business receipts and business licenses.

When a claimant files their initial unemployment claim, they are automatically registered with the public employment office, the Maryland Workforce Exchange (MWE). An individual who is currently receiving unemployment insurance benefits is exempted from completing the weekly work search requirement for the duration of the state of emergency plus 30 days. As of April 16, 2021, Maryland remains in a state of emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. When Maryland again requires individuals receiving unemployment benefits to engage in a work search, a claimant who is not exempt from a work search must perform a minimum of three valid reemployment activities per week.

Examples of such activities include work searches performed through the MWE, a skills self-assessment, engaging in a job search through an outside internet job referral service like Indeed and attending an employment event held by the Maryland Division of Workforce Development and Adult Learning (DWDAL). A claimant must record information regarding reemployment activities in the Reemployment Exchange (REX) module of the MWE system. They must provide relevant contact information, the date of the activity, the type of activity and supporting documentation when necessary.

DUI no longer accepts a written log of job contacts from a claimant. A claimant is exempt from the active search for work requirement under a number of circumstances. These include being on a temporary layoff, with an employer providing the worker a definite return to work date of 10 weeks or less; being a member of a union who is only permitted to seek or be assigned work through their union hiring hall; being in a training program approved by the Maryland Department of Labor; and participating in the state's Work Sharing lay-off aversion program.

A claimant must report wages earned during the week, as well as pensions, holiday pay, vacation pay, severance pay, bonuses and special payments they have received or will receive. An individual should report a commission payment in the week they receive it. An individual must notify DUI if they receive back pay or their monthly pension amount changes. DUI will not deduct a claimant’s first $50 in earnings from UI benefits. Any earnings over $50 a week will be deducted from the claimant’s benefit payment on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

Maryland’s American Job Centers are closed to the public for in-person visits, but are offering virtual services. Employers are holding virtual career fairs, virtual hiring fairs and virtual job fairs, as well as inviting workers to drop off resumes in person.

An individual receiving benefits under PUA or PEUC who has earned wages in either of the last two quarters will need to reapply for regular UI benefits per federal government requirements. This is due to the quarter change that will take place on April 4, 2021. A calendar quarter is a three-month period in the year.

The quarter change on April 4 means that the claimant will need to reapply to reflect their earning wages in the quarters that lasted from October 2020 through December 2020, and from January 2021 through March 2021, rather than the quarters that lasted from July 2020 through August 2020, and October 2020 through December 2020. A claimant will also need to reapply when their benefit year expires. Even if the claimant is receiving benefits under the PUA or PEUC program, they will need to reapply when the 52-week period that starts on the effective date of their regular UI claim ends.

A claimant can receive benefit payments by paper check mailed through the U.S. Postal Service to their address on file. They can also receive payments via direct deposit. Prior to April 2021, the Maryland Division of Unemployment Insurance allowed an alternate form of payment, through a Bank of America debit card, but this option is being phased out, due to a new contract with Wells Fargo.

Although the contract is with Wells Fargo, DUI will make payments to bank accounts at credit unions as well as banks other than Wells Fargo. DUI will no longer provide payments through a debit card. Presently, when a claimant’s UI payments are approved, they will receive a notice to this effect.

Maryland school districts have varying schedules for in-person instruction, which depend on the school district and the age and grade of the child. When a child has the option to attend full-time, in-person instruction, a parent or guardian cannot claim unemployment benefits because they choose to have their child continue in distance learning. Still, many schools offer a form of hybrid instruction with only part-time, in-person instruction. This means quite a number of parents and guardians can claim unemployment benefits because they need to stay home on certain days.

Unemployment insurance fraud may involve leaving out important information from a weekly certification, such as the fact that a claimant declined work or the actual amount of wages a claimant earned. A claimant who has made a mistake on their claim should notify a claims agent as soon as they discover the mistake to avoid penalties.

An individual who is determined to have committed UI fraud may face a $1,000 fine, imprisonment or both. They will be disqualified from receiving future UI benefits for one year. They will be assessed a 15 percent fraud penalty on the amount of the overpayment and a monthly interest penalty of 18 percent a year on the unpaid overpayment balance.

When a worker receives an overpayment, they are notified through a Notice of Benefit Overpayment that states the benefits they received have been paid in error. The Maryland Department of Labor will include a Replacement Agreement that indicates the proposed monthly repayment amount acceptable by the agency. If the claimant does not agree with this amount, they can indicate what monthly payment would be acceptable. They must sign the form and send it to the Maryland Department of Labor.

The Department will notify the claimant if it accepts the proposal. It will also reflect the new amount on subsequent monthly overpayment billing statements. When an overpaid claimant is receiving unemployment insurance benefits, the state’s automated payment system will apply any UI payments to the current debt.

When the state schedules a UI payment to a claimant, instead of the claimant receiving the money on their card, the money will be deducted from the claimant's current debt. A claimant should still file the weekly certifications to reduce the debt with the new benefits.

A claimant can submit a waiver when a repayment of the debt would cause severe financial hardship to the claimant and their family. They must file the application for waiver within 30 days of the establishment of an overpayment, which cannot be fraud. In addition, the claimant cannot be at fault for the overpayment.

Maryland’s Work Sharing unemployment insurance program provides a way for employers to retain workers while spreading the burden across a group. Work Sharing is a voluntary program for employers that temporarily reduce hours of work within a range of between 20 percent and 50 percent. The employees receive partial UI benefits to supplement lost wages. For additional information, a claimant should consult the Work Sharing program's website.

A claimant can file an appeal via BEACON or by email by contacting the Lower Appeals Division at [email protected]. If a claimant does not use BEACON, their request for an appeal must include the precise name and date of the determination from which they want to appeal, their name as it appears on the determination, their Social Security number, a telephone number where they can be reached, and a brief statement of why they disagree with the determination.

Typically, a claimant or an employer has 15 days after the mailing of a benefit determination to file a timely appeal. The high claim volume caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic may lead to the untimely filing of an appeal. The Lower Appeals Division will review late appeals on a case-by-case basis.

A claimant can only appeal certain documents to the Lower Appeals Division. These include Notice of Benefit Determination, Lost Wage Assistance Eligibility Determination, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Eligibility Determination, or similar determinations. Such a determination will appear in the claimant’s BEACON Correspondence in the BEACON system. A claimant will receive a notification that their appeal has been received. They will then receive a hearing notice that explains their rights and responsibilities.