Unemployment
Qualifications
The program ensures that, if you meet the eligibility requirements of the law, you are entitled to some income while you are looking for a job. The current maximum amount of weeks is 16 weeks in one calendar year. The weekly benefit amount is a minimum of $147 and a maximum of $589 per week for claims filed between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024. You will be notified of your weekly benefit amount through a monetary determination, which will be issued after you file an application for benefits. If you want an estimate of your weekly benefit amount, we recommend using our benefits calculator at GetKansasBenefits.gov.
Entitlement: Are you monetarily entitled to receive benefits based on wages earned in the base period?
Eligibility: Do you meet the requirements to be eligible for UI based on your separation from employment, ability to work, availability to work and efforts to seek work?
If you have earned enough wages to qualify for benefits, you will be entitled to receive regular unemployment benefits for those weeks when you are either totally or partially unemployed and meet all requirements. The Kansas Department of Labor (KDOL) determines both your weekly benefits amount (WBA) and your total benefit amount (TBA) based on the wages you earned during your base period.
Click HERE to check if you meet the monetary qualifications.
When filing a new application, you will need the following information:
- Your Social Security number
- Full mailing address, including apartment or lot number, Zip Code and PO Box if you use one
- A phone number where you can be reached during the day
- The name and mailing address of the last employer you physically worked for, no matter how long you worked there.
- Note: Your paycheck stub or W-2 form usually contains this information
- The date you began and stopped working for each employer and the reason you left each job for the last 18 months
- The county in which you live
- Your driver's license number
- If you are not a citizen or national of the United States, your employment authorization number and expiration date
- If you were active duty military within the past 18 months, your DD-214, Member #4 form
- If you were a federal employee, your Standard Form SF-50 or pay stub
- Any separation, vacation, or holiday pay you have received or will receive in the future.
A record of your application will not be established unless you are told your claim has been accepted. If you are unable to complete your application, the information you have entered will be saved for 7 days from the date you began filing the claim. Your application is effective the week that you file your application for unemployment.
To review the full law of unemployment, please click HERE .
Overview
File your first weekly certification on Sunday after filing your unemployment application in the previous week. The calendar week for unemployment runs from midnight Sunday to midnight the following Saturday. For example: If you filed your application on Tuesday, file for your first weekly certification on the following Sunday. You may file weekly certifications any day of the week. Filing early in the week assures the most prompt payment.
How to file your weekly certificaiton
You may file weekly certification on the Internet at GetKansasBenefits.gov, click File a weekly claim. You can also file a weekly certification over the phone at 785-296-4337, 316-269-0633, 913-287-6913 or 800-929-6333. There is no toll-free phone number available to file Weekly Certifications. Line. We recommend that you file your weekly certificationslaims online to avoid long-distance charges. You will need the following information to file a weekly certificaiton for payment:
- The amount of your gross wages earned for any work performed (money earned before deductions, not received) during the week being claimed. This includes any pay received as a Reservist for weekend drill and annual training participation.
- The number of hours you worked during the week being claimed.
- Gross amount of any paid time off (such as vacation, personal time off or holiday pay) for the week being claimed.
- Gross amount of severance pay received for the week being claimed.
You will be asked the following questions:
- Did you work any day, Sunday through Saturday, during the week being claimed? Enter your gross earnings before deductions for this week. Do not include holiday, vacation or severance pay in this amount. Please enter the number of hours worked during the week being claimed.
- Did you receive any bonus pay during the week being claimed?
- Did you receive holiday pay for the week being claimed?
- Did you receive vacation pay for the week being claimed?
- Did you receive any severance pay for the week being claimed?
- Did you refuse work during the week being claimed?
- Did you quit a job or were you fired from a job during the week being claimed? Did you report the loss of employment to the Contact Center?
- Did you attend school or enter training during the week being claimed?
- Did you receive or change any type of pension, other than Social Security benefits, during the week being claimed?
- Did you apply for or receive any Workers Compensation payments for the week being claimed that were for a work-connected injury or disability?
- Were you physically able to work four or more days during the week being claimed?
- Were you available for work with no undue restrictions for four or more days during the week being claimed?
- Did you look for work as directed by the Kansas Unemployment Contact Center or Internet claims system during the week being claimed?
Overview
An individual may file a claim for unemployment benefits in any state in which they have earned money. States will combine your wages for a claim. Individuals can only file/claim benefits in one state at a time, so if they begin filing in one state, their claim will remain with that state. If you have wages during the base period of your claim earned in another state, from the military or federal government, we will ask for your wage information from the other state(s), and/or your branch of service or the federal government to help process your claim. When we receive the wage information, another "Unemployment Insurance Monetary Determination" letter listing these wages will be mailed to you. You must continue to file your weekly claim for payment while your wages are being investigated.
Combined wage claims, military and federal government claims must be taken over the phone.
If you have not earned enough wages in Kansas to be eligible for benefits without adding in the additional wages from another state, the military or federal government, your unemployment payments will be delayed until we receive the requested wage information.
Overview
Reasonable Assurance is an agreement made by the employer that the employee will perform the same or similar services in the next term. This agreement can be written, verbal or implied, and does not have to be with the same school or educational service agency.
To qualify for benefits, the applicant must meet the following criteria:
- Be unemployed or underemployed when the application is filed.
- Earned sufficient wages in employment that is covered by Kansas Unemployment Security Law.
- Be unemployed through no fault of the individual.
School employees do not generally qualify for benefits during:
- Scheduled breaks in the school year.
- Between school years or terms if they have a contract or reasonable assurance of returning to work in the same or similar capacity in the next term.
We consider several things when determining if reasonable assurance exists. These may include:
- The past employer/employee relationship.
- An established understanding that the employee will return to work.
- If the employee has placed his/her name on a list of available workers.
- Whether the employee has reason to believe he/she will not be called back.
The Tax Reform Act of 1986 mandated that all unemployment insurance benefits are taxable. Unemployment benefits are considered regular income for tax purposes, and are subject to both federal and state income taxes. The 1099-G form assists in reporting the income on your yearly taxes. The payer field on the 1099-G will note “Kansas Department of Labor” for your receipt of unemployment benefits. In the case of unemployment, the 1099-G documents the total benefits paid to the claimant during the previous calendar year. The Kansas Department of Labor will mail a Form 1099-G in January to individuals who received unemployment benefits at any time during the previous calendar year. You may receive more than one 1099-G if you had multiple forms of government provided income.
This diagram shows how to determine which agency sent you the Form 1099-G and where information about unemployment compensation is found.
Additional 1099-G resources:
For more information about what other government provided income may be included, please visit Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
For a summary of various 1099s issued by the State and contact information for questions and inquiries, please visit Kansas Department of Administration.
Funding
The UI program is funded by federal and state taxes on employers that provides cash benefits to eligible workers.
Employers are taxed by the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) and the State Unemployment Tax Act (SUTA). The UI Trust Fund is made by Kansas employers and are governed by KSA 2019 Supp. 44-710a. The State assesses employers a tax on the first $14,000 of wages paid to each employee, based on the employer’s experience with the unemployment system.