COVID-19 Information for Individuals

Yes. A Weekly Certification is a series of yes/no questions that helps determine your eligibility for benefits each week. If you do not complete a Weekly Certification, you will not be considered for payment for that week. Weekly certifications must be filed online. If you don’t have access to a computer, you can contact our customer call center by calling 1-888-737-0259.

After you file your claim for unemployment insurance, your last employer is given, by law, 10 days to respond to DES about your claim. No payment will be released until after this 10-day period. Your claim may be identified as ‘pending’ during this period.

If there are no issues with your claim, it will take approximately 14 days from the time you file your claim to receive your first payment.

f you need to request for your claim to be backdated, please call the DES Customer Call Center at 888-773-0259 for assistance.

After you file your claim for unemployment insurance, your last employer is given, by law, 10 days to respond to DES about your claim. No payment will be released until after this 10-day period. Your claim may be ‘pending’ during this period.

If your employer does not respond within 10 days, and you have identified ‘coronavirus’ as the reason for separation from employment, the system will automatically adjudicate the issue. If all requirements are met, benefits will be paid. The employer will be notified of this determination of benefits by mail. If the employer feels the claim is not valid, they may appeal the determination.    

Part time employees may qualify for unemployment benefits if they have earned enough money in their base period to received benefits.

Your base period is the time frame used to determine whether you are monetarily eligible to receive unemployment payments. It normally includes the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters.

The individual must have been 1) paid wages in at least two quarters of the base period, and 2) have been paid wages totaling at least six times the average weekly insured wage in the base period. 

Currently, six times the average weekly insured wage in the base period equates to $5,818.50.

If you’re working reduced hours, you may still be eligible for unemployment benefits. However, the amount you earn could affect your weekly benefit amount.

You must report the money you earn when filing your Weekly Certification for unemployment. You can earn up to 20% of your weekly benefit amount without it counting against your weekly benefit. Earnings over that amount are deducted from your weekly benefits.

For example: If your weekly benefit amount is $350, you can earn up to $70 a week (20% of $350) and receive the full $350 in benefits. Every dollar you earn over $70 will be deducted from the $350. If you earn $75 a week, your weekly benefit will be $345; if you earn $420 a week, your weekly benefit will be reduced to $0.

If you have exhausted state unemployment insurance benefits, you may apply for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), a federal extension to state unemployment insurance benefits.

You will see a link to ‘Apply for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation’ in your online account at des.nc.gov after you exhaust your state unemployment insurance benefits.

Learn more about PEUC.

After you file a claim, you will be mailed a Wage Transcript and Monetary Determination form (NCUI 550).

This will show your quarterly wages paid by each base period employer and your monetary eligibility, including your weekly benefit amount, duration of benefits and effective date of your claim. If you have been found ineligible for a weekly benefit, the reason will be shown on the form.

Monetary eligibility simply means that you have worked and earned enough wages within your base period to meet the requirements for establishing a claim. In order to receive benefit payments, you must meet additional requirements, such as completing your Weekly Certifications.

If you believe wages are missing or listed inaccurately on the form, you may file a protest within 10 days from the mailing of the Wage Transcript and Monetary Determination form.

You may file your protest by sending it to the address or fax below. In your protest, include a copy of the form with an explanation of your protest and proof of wages you believe were incorrectly reported.

Mail:

Your base period is the time frame used to determine whether you are monetarily eligible to receive unemployment payments. Monetary eligibility simply means that you have worked and earned enough wages within your base period to meet the requirements for establishing a claim.

It normally includes the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters. (If you lack enough base period wages, DES may use an alternative base period to determine whether you are eligible for UI benefits. The alternative base period consists of the last four completed calendar quarters immediately before the first day of your benefit year.)

Any worker who receives severance pay is considered to be attached to that employer's payroll during that time and not eligible for UI benefits.

Paid Time Off (Vacation and/or Sick Pay) will not be considered separation pay if the payment was issued as a result of the employer's written policy established prior to your separation. Workers receiving Paid Time Off (Vacation and/or Sick Pay) under these conditions will not be disqualified from receiving benefits.

If you return to work, stop filing your Weekly Certifications to discontinue your benefits. You do not need to report to DES that you’ve gone back to work.

If you continue to receive benefits for weeks after you return to work, you may be required to pay back the benefits you were overpaid.

Continue to file your Weekly Certifications and report any wages you earn. Remember, you must report wages for the week in which you earned them, not the week in which you are paid.

Any wages you earn may affect your weekly benefit amount.

Generally, an employee is disqualified from receiving further benefits if the employee chooses not to return to work after receiving notice to do so from their employer. If your employer has called you back and you did not return to work, you should report that you have refused an offer to work when filing your Weekly Certification. You will have an opportunity to provide more information about your reason for not returning to work.

DES will determine eligibility for unemployment benefits on a case-by-case basis.

You may continue to be eligible for benefits if you do not return to work for good cause. Examples of good cause related to COVID-19 can be found on the Returning to Work page.

If you are 65 or older and/or you have a medical condition that puts you at a high risk for severe illness if you are infected with COVID-19, and your employer is not able to offer you a safe workplace or your job does not allow for a reasonable accommodation such as teleworking, you may have good cause for not returning to work and be eligible to receive benefits.

A note from a Doctor of Medicine or Osteopathy who is authorized to practice medicine by the state will be considered as proof of a high-risk medical condition.

You should talk to your employer. If your employer has taken steps to create a safer workplace by following safety standards as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) or other governmental authorities or industry groups, you may be found ineligible for benefits if you choose not to return to work. If your employer is not following recommended safety standards, then your refusal to return to work may make you eligible for benefits.

No. Choosing not to return to work solely on the basis that you will earn less than you can collect in unemployment benefits is not considered good cause when your employer has offered you your former employment back or other suitable employment. If you refuse to return to work solely on this basis you will not be eligible to receive benefits.