The the Minnesota Unemployment Insurance Program is administered by the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), who are responsible for processing unemployment compensation claims and paying out benefits.
How Much Unemployment Can I Get Paid In Minnesota?
With the expiry the pandemic unemployment programs, only traditional/regular state unemployment is available for full or partial unemployment claims. The table below provides key details on the latest unemployment benefits and qualifying wage requirements.
You will need to submit a claim or certify your application via your state’s unemployment department to get your actual weekly benefit amount.
Note that to qualify for unemployment, your job or hours worked loss will generally need to be involuntary. I.e. through no fault of your own or via directly quitting. Your job and wages must also have been paid/covered by an employer or source that deducted unemployment insurance taxes per state law (see your paycheck).
Further if you are being paid severance via a layoff or able to use sick leave or paid vacation, you cannot claim unemployment.
You will also need to certify for benefits at weekly intervals, demonstrate ongoing work availability and evidence of job search requirements to keep getting weekly unemployment benefits.
| Max Weekly Unemployment Available | $857 (or around 50% of your qualifying average weekly wage) |
| Max number of Weeks covered in Benefit Year | 26 |
| Part-Time Income or Workers – UI benefits impact | No benefits if you work over 32 hrs. in the week or when your gross earnings greater than WBA. Otherwise will deduct 50% of earnings from your actual WBA. |
Why is my weekly benefit payment lower than the maximum amount?
Your actual weekly benefit amount (WBA) is the amount of money your state agency has determined you and your dependents may receive for regular unemployment insurance after filing a claim. This can change weekly based on your certification or claim for benefits.
Your actual WBA is based on the amount that you earned over the states pre-defined base or alternate wage period, which are generally based on four out of the last five completed calendar quarters spanning 12 to 18 months.
The higher your earnings, the higher your approved WBA will be, up to the maximum amount allowed in the state. All earnings must be subject to UI tax (covered employment) to be eligible for factoring into your benefit determination.
Any part time or temporary earnings from employment or other activities during eligible weeks you are claiming and certifying for benefits, will potentially reduce the amount of benefits you may get.
Also note that that your state UI agency may deduct overpayments (up to 100%) and court-ordered child support (up to 65%) from your weekly payment. This will reduce your WBA.
What if I worked or lived in another state?
If you worked or lived in another state during the base year, you should file your unemployment benefits claim in the state you worked in and where your wages were reported. Not where you reside at the time of claim. You can file a claim in multiple states.
Your claim will be paid and governed by laws of that state in which you applied for. You will need to report this on your state and federal income taxes per form 1099-G issued by the state’s UI agency.
Claimants will also need to apply or reapply for UI benefits when they reach the end of their benefit year.
Get the latest money, tax and stimulus news directly in your inbox
Pandemic Unemployment Benefits
As of September 6th, 2001 all the pandemic unemployment programs have now ended and DEED is focused on paying retroactive claims for these programs. Traditional state unemployment benefits continue to be available for eligible claimants.
Under President Biden’s $1.9 trillion federal coronavirus relief package, known as the American Rescue Plan (ARP), enhanced unemployment benefits have been extended until September 6th. This includes further extensions to the PUA program, PEUC program, $300 weekly payment under the FPUC program and $100 Mixed Earners (MEUC) program. There were also provisions in the Biden Stimulus package for Unemployment tax breaks on the first $10,200 of benefits received in 2020.
Latest News and Status on PUA, PEUC and $300 FPUC Payment Schedule
The Federal Department of Labor (DOL) has now issued formal guidelines to implement the latest round of extensions until September 6th. For those who exhaust their benefits or have a zero claim balance after March 14th (when current CAA extensions end) there could be a lapse in benefits as DEED update their program/systems to enable the extended weeks of coverage funded under the ARP Program. The DEED is in line to have the recent extensions implemented by mid-April in line with federal guidelines. I will post updates as they are made available and you can follow along via the options below for the latest updates.
Get the latest money, tax and stimulus news directly in your inbox
2021 Unemployment Program Extensions Under COVID Relief Bill
The $900 billion COVID-19 relief package was passed into law on Dec. 27, 2020, which among several other pandemic relief measures extends and provides additional federal funding for enhanced unemployment benefits. This includes the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) and a reinstatement, but halving of the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) Program which provides a $300 supplemental weekly unemployment payment.
These programs have been funded and extended for 11 weeks (on top of any state funded extensions), covering the weeks of December 27th, 2020 to March 14th, 2021. While the bill was only signed on 12/27 and there have been some reports that the claimants may lose one week of benefits (since funding for all these programs ended on December 26th) the Department of Labor has confirmed an added $300 per week FPUC will be available starting the week ending 1/2/21, so eligible claimants will receive the full 11 weeks of payments (a total of $3,300). To receive FPUC benefits, you must be receiving regular UI, PEUC, EB, or PUA.
December 31, 2020 update: DEED expects to start paying the newly authorized PEUC and PUA benefits as soon as January 3, 2021. They are currently awaiting federal funding for the $300 supplemental payments.
Final guidelines on these programs and final eligibility including additional document verification procedures to combat Fraud have been issued by the Department of Labor and then have to be implemented by the state UI agency in their systems and programs. So this could delay the actual date of payments.
UI claimants with existing or expired claim balances should be aware of the following:
- PUA and PEUC, FPUC will be automatically added to the claimants’ benefits if they are eligible for the weeks outlined in the new legislation.
- Claimants with weeks remaining in UI should continue to file weekly claims
- Claimants who will have additional weeks in UI and PUA or PEUC due to state provisions (where applicable) should watch their state agency UI portal or website for updates that will allow additional weeks to be filed.
- Claimants will receive retroactive payments for all weeks they are eligible.
- Claimants currently receiving benefits through the Extended Benefits program must finish all weeks of EB before receiving additional weeks of PEUC.
I will post additional details as they are released in coming days. So stay tuned for updates.
PEUC Payment Dates
The first week of PEUC under the new law is the week beginning December 27, 2020. You will be able to request payment for this week on or after January 3, 2021. PEUC benefits will not be available retroactively for weeks prior to December 27, 2020. If you have not collected benefits in a while, you may need to reactivate your account before you can resume requesting PEUC benefits.
Keep requesting payment each week you are unemployed. The last payable week for PEUC will be for the week ending March 13, 2021. If you receive a PEUC payment for that week, and you have a remaining balance on your account, you may be eligible to participate in a phaseout period and collect PEUC through the week ending April 10, 2021.
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) extension
The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program provides weekly benefit payments for those who are not eligible for regular or extended unemployment benefits in Minnesota or any other state. PUA was created by the CARES Act on March 27, 2020. Under the new stimulus law signed on December 27, 2020, PUA benefits can now last for 11 more weeks (up to a maximum of 50 weeks).
The first week of PUA benefits under the new law is the week beginning December 27, 2020. You will be able to request payment for this week on or after January 3, 2021. Keep requesting payment each week you are unemployed. The last payable week for PUA will be for the week ending March 13, 2021. If you receive a PUA payment for that week, and you have a remaining balance on your account, you may be eligible to participate in a phaseout period and collect PUA through the week ending April 10, 2021. See more information on the DEED page.
So I ran out of u enjoyment in June and was told I qualify for a extension they said be patient they’ll get it to me in a couple weeks here’s 7 months later I still haven’t received it and they say that it’s taking time to process all of them.. I’ve now lost my house and I’m homeless because of this I get charged interest when I owe do I get to start charging interest just get the payments out there’s no way 7 months it takes to get people paid
They need to give out more info on when they are implementing MEUC for mixed-income earners.
Also the program of an extra $100 is almost an insult after months of getting under $100 of UI or no UI at all. Those of us who earned most of our income in self-employment but had part-time wage jobs to supplement, and who lost self-employment but still deliver pizzas on the weekend, or whatever it might be, do not get any compensation at all because you can’t collect UI on a job you still have. Therefore trying to survive on a $10 an hour 8-12hr a week part-time job’s wages alone. The real fix would be retroactive and either places us in PUA or count both incomes toward the benefit, not just the W2 job. This MEUC still doesn’t help those who kept their part-time wage work. And they still are trying to survive only $300-600 a month. It didn’t fix anything. Just gave those who managed to collect something a hundred dollars more than their neighbor. whoopie.
I advocated for this cause so much. Talked to senators, wrote letters, petitions, etc. It is so disheartening to see the version that made it into the bill.
You can see this article for MEUC – https://savingtoinvest.com/a-new-100-benefit-on-top-of-300-fpuc-weekly-unemployment-boost-for-mixed-income-earners/#comments
I was on extended benefits and that was cut off they expired it on Dec 19th in Minnesota, I was supposed tu get 1 more payment but they cut off. I started a new application but it still shows 0 zero, it states on web site for Minnesota that if exhausted EB they would put it back in with the 300 on top of what I was getting, it’s already after the date, are they missing my account I have other friends that are getting there’s so can I get info. I will get the extra 11 weeks extension again till March is this correct, I just need tu know so I can let Bill people and housing know I could be late because it’s not in my account yet, any info would be great, I just wish someone in office would have info so we could get info on times dates. Thanks for any info.