Eligibility

• To receive unemployment benefits in Connecticut, you must be fully or partially unemployed, and the reason for your separation from employment must be no fault of your own. If you quit, retire or receive a discharge, you must attend a hearing to determine whether you qualify for benefits. You may be eligible for benefits after quitting your job if your employer took steps to negatively affect the working conditions, wages or hours of your job. You may also be eligible if you quit to care for an immediate family member with an illness or disability, or to get away from a situation involving domestic violence.
  
  

Payments

• To calculate your benefit amount, the state considers your wages over a one-year period consisting of the first four of the previous five complete calendar quarters. As of 2010, weekly benefits range from $15 to $555 depending on your wages during the four-quarter period. The state takes the average of your wages in your two highest-paid quarters during that period. It divides that number by 26 to determine your weekly benefit amount, which can never exceed $555. If you did not earn at least 40 times your weekly benefit amount during your four-quarter base period, you are ineligible for benefits.
  
  

Considerations

• If you are partially unemployed, you may collect benefits but at a lesser amount than if you were out of work altogether. After determining your weekly benefit amount, the state will reduce that payment by two-thirds of your gross earnings for the week. Whether you are totally or partially unemployed, Connecticut requires you to actively seek full-time work and be available to accept job offers during each week in which you file a benefits claim. People with disabilities may be able to limit their job search to part-time work.
  
  

Duration

• The base period for collecting unemployment benefits in Connecticut is 26 weeks. In 2008 through November 2010, the federal government extended the period to as many as 99 weeks per unemployed worker in response to the economic recession. The Emergency Unemployment Compensation program and Extended Benefits program combine to add 73 weeks to the benefits period for Connecticut residents. In December 2010, the U.S. Congress was considering a bill that would continue these programs through the end of 2011. Without a continuation, the period for receiving benefits would revert to 26 weeks.