If your weekly benefit rate is less than the maximum weekly benefit rate and you have dependents , you may qualify for Dependency Benefits. Dependency Benefits will increase your weekly benefit rate.

Dependency Benefits are equal to 7 percent of your weekly benefit rate for the first dependent, and 4 percent for each of the next two dependents.

The maximum amount of Dependency Benefits you can collect is an additional 15 percent of your weekly benefit rate for up to three dependents. Dependency Benefits will only increase your weekly benefit rate up to the maximum weekly benefit rate, as no claimant can receive more than the maximum weekly benefit rate.

You need to apply for Dependency Benefits within 6 weeks of the date of claim or you will be ineligible to receive Dependency Benefits for the duration of the claim. No Dependency Benefits will be paid until proof is provided to the Division.

If your spouse/civil union partner is employed during the week you establish your claim, you cannot receive Dependency Benefits.

A dependent is defined as an unemployed spouse/civil union partner or an unemployed, unmarried child (including stepchild or legally adopted child) under the age of 19 (or 22 if the child is attending school full-time) or an unemployed unmarried disabled adult child who has blindness or a disability which began before the age of 22.

If you and your spouse/civil union partner are both unemployed, only one may claim Dependency Benefits.

You will be asked to provide the social security number(s) of your spouse/civil union partner and other claimed dependents.

You will be asked to provide proof of dependency. The Division will accept, as verification of dependency status, a copy of your most recent federal or state income tax return. If this is unavailable or insufficient to provide current dependency status, the Division may consider a combination of the following documents: birth, baptismal or marriage certificate(s), civil union license(s), certified divorce, dissolution, child support, annulment or adoption order(s) or any other legal documents. For blind or disabled children, written proof of a determination by the Social Security Administration that the individual is currently eligible for Disabled Adult Child benefits under the Social Security Act shall be considered conclusive proof of dependent status.

No one may receive more than the maximum Weekly Benefit Amount.

If any of these circumstances apply to you, your weekly benefit rate may be reduced.

Not all pensions affect unemployment claims, but some do. If you are receiving a pension from an employer whom your claim is based on, your unemployment benefits may be reduced by either 50% or 100% of your weekly pension amount, as follows:

If your Base Year Period employer contributed the entire amount towards your pension and you contributed nothing, your unemployment benefits may be reduced by 100% of your weekly pension amount. Example: If your monthly pension amount is $1,000, your weekly pension amount is calculated to be $231. If your unemployment weekly benefit amount is $400, your weekly pension amount, $231, is subtracted from that, leaving you with $169.

If both you and your employer contributed towards the pension, your unemployment benefits may be reduced by 50% of your weekly pension amount. Example: If your monthly pension amount is $1,000, your weekly pension amount is calculated to be $231. Since you contributed towards your pension, only half of your weekly pension amount ($116) is subtracted from your weekly benefit amount. If your unemployment weekly benefit amount is $400, half of your weekly pension amount, $116, is subtracted from that, leaving you with $284.

If you contributed the entire amount towards the pension, and your employer contributed nothing, no reduction will be made to your unemployment benefits.

If you were involuntarily separated from work prior to the age of 59.5 years, a lump sum payment of retirement pension will reduce your unemployment benefits, either for the week in which the payment was received or, at your option, prorated to a weekly deduction using actuarial tables.

NOTE : Getting Social Security benefits does not reduce Unemployment Insurance benefits.

If a suitable job is offered to you, you must take it. If you refuse the job, you may be denied benefits for the week in which you refuse the job and for the next three (3) weeks.

Because each person is not the same and has different circumstances, the definition of a "suitable job" is fitted to each person, depending on where he or she lives, his or her skills, experience and past salary. While you are unemployed, you will look for a job similar to your last job (distance traveled, job duties and salary). As you remain unemployed, you will be expected to revise your minimum job requirements. For example, you may have to travel a greater distance, accept a different type of job or accept a lower starting salary.

An offer of work is suitable if it is reasonably similar to your previous work experience in location, type of work, and pay, including benefits. The longer you remain unemployed, the more willing you must be to expand your work search. You may need to consider offers outside your normal trade or occupation, and to accept work at a lower pay rate in order to remain eligible for benefits.

If you are working less than full-time due to your employer's lack of full-time work, you may be able to collect all or part of your unemployment benefits. Less than full-time means that you are not working more than 80% of the usual hours for your occupation (for example, if a 40 hour work week is common in your occupation, you may be able to receive benefits if you work 32 hours or less). If you find part-time work with a new employer, you must continue to look for full-time work (if your unemployment claim is based on full-time work). If you do not look for full-time work, you may be ineligible for unemployment benefits. Whether you are working less than full-time or part-time , you must report your weekly gross wages (including tips) when you claim your benefits. Please note that even if employment is not used to establish your claim , you must declare all earnings for each week of benefits that you claim. Wages must be reported for the week in which they are earned, not when they are paid. The wages you report will be subtracted from your Partial Benefit Rate. The Partial Benefit Rate is 20% higher than your weekly benefit rate. You cannot be paid more than your weekly benefit rate. For example, if your weekly benefit rate is $200, your Partial Benefit Rate is $240 (20% higher than $200). If you earn $50 during a week, you would receive $190 in unemployment benefits ($240 - $50 = $190).

If you return to full-time work during the weeks you are claiming benefits, you must notify us when you claim those weeks. You will have to answer questions about your return to full-time work, including:

The specific date you returned to full-time work.

The gross wages you earned.

The amount of whole hours you worked.

The employer's name, address and telephone number.

If you notify us online of your return to full-time work, you will also need to provide the employer's name, address, and telephone number.

How we calculate benefits

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Return to all frequently asked questions

If you qualify for Unemployment Insurance benefits, the amount of money you'll get each week is called your weekly benefit rate (WBR). This amount will depend on how much you earned in the base year period before you applied for Unemployment Insurance benefits.

There are other factors that may reduce your WBR, like whether you are working part-time or collecting a pension.

Note: To be eligible for Unemployment Insurance benefits in 2026, you must have earned at least $310 per week (a base week) during 20 or more weeks in covered employment during the base year period, or you must have earned at least $15,500 in total covered employment during the base year period.

To be eligible for Unemployment Insurance benefits in 2025, you must have earned at least $303 per week (a base week) during 20 or more weeks in covered employment during the base year period, or you must have earned at least $15,200 in total covered employment during the base year period

For more information, click here .

The weekly benefit rate is capped at a maximum amount based on the state minimum wage. For 2026, the maximum weekly benefit rate is $905. For 2025 the maximum weekly benefit rate is $875. We will calculate your weekly benefit rate at 60% of the average weekly wage you earned during the base year , up to that maximum. We determine the average weekly wage based on wage information your employer(s) report.

If you are not entitled to the weekly maximum benefit amount , you may be able to increase your entitlement with dependency benefits .

If after we calculate your weekly benefit rate, you realize that we did not include wages because they were not reported by your employer(s), contact us for a monetary review . You will need to provide pay stubs as proof of your earnings.

For workers who don't qualify with a standard base year, we have other ways of calculating a base year. Click here for more information on these alternate base years, including if you are filing for Unemployment Insurance benefits after a period of disability.

If your weekly benefit rate is less than the maxium weekly benefit rate and you have dependents , you may qualify for Dependency Benefits .

The maximum benefit amount is the "balance" of benefits/funds potentially available to you based on your weeks worked and wages earned before you filed.

We calculate this amount as follows: Maximum Benefit Amount = the number of weeks you worked in the base period (up to 26) * your weekly benefit rate

Example 1: Steve worked 20 weeks during the base year period. His weekly benefit rate is $200. His maximum benefit amount will be $200 times 20 weeks = $4,000. Example 2: Rebecca worked 50 weeks during the base year period, and is entitled to a maximum 26-week claim at a weekly benefit rate of $300. Her maximum benefit amount will be $300 x 26 = $7,800.

The maximum anyone can receive, regardless of how many weeks they worked during the base year or how much they earned, is 26 times the maximum weekly benefit rate. Right now, the maximum total benefit amount any one claimant can receive during their annual claim period is:

For 2026: $23,530 ($905 x 26)

For 2025: $22,750 ($875 x 26)

The annual claim period, or benefit year, is 365 days from the date of your claim.

If you return to work before you collect all the benefits in your claim, and then become unemployed again before the one-year anniversary of your claim, you should immediately reopen your claim. We do not need to recalculate your weekly benefit rate in this case – it remains the same.

Whether or not you have collected all the benefits in your claim, we stop paying benefits after one year has passed from the initial date of your claim. If after this one-year anniversary you are unemployed, you need to file a new claim because we have to recalculate your weekly benefit rate based on the new base year period.

In order to qualify for a new claim, you must have worked for a certain amount of time before you apply again. You need to have worked at least four weeks and earned six times your last claim's weekly benefit rate in covered employment . You must also meet all other eligibility rules . We need all of this information to see if you are once again eligible for benefits.

If your work hours were reduced, but not completely cut, you may still be able to collect Unemployment Insurance benefits.

NOTE : When claiming benefits, you must report your part-time wages when earned, even if you have not yet been paid.

How we calculate partial Unemployment Insurance benefits

When you claim your weekly benefit, you will let us know if you worked that week. We will ask how many hours you worked and how much you earned (gross) for that week.

To be eligible for partial benefits , you cannot work more than 80 percent of the hours normally worked in the job. For example, if you worked a 40-hour week, you won't be able to get benefits if you work more than 32 hours. If your employer offers additional hours that you choose not to accept, your benefits may be affected.

For any wages earned from any employer:

If you earn 20 percent or less of your weekly benefit rate from an employer, you can still receive your full weekly benefit rate (WBR) for that week. However, we will not pay you more than your weekly benefit rate.

Here's an example, using a weekly benefit rate (WBR) of $500. Let's say you worked a few days one week and earned $200. For a $500 WBR, the partial weekly benefit rate (PWBR) is $600 - the weekly benefit rate PLUS 20 percent ($500 + $100). You would receive $400 as your unemployment benefit for this week. Your PWBR minus your earnings of $200 equals $400.

Let's take a look at another example. Let's say that one week you worked a few hours and earned $50. For a $500 WBR, your partial benefit rate is $600. $600 minus $50 equals $550. However, since we will never pay more than your WBR, which is $500, your benefit for this week $500. We're not penalizing you (cutting your benefits) because you were able to squeak out some more hours while you were collecting unemployment. We want to get you in the door to work even a little bit, since that's a step toward full reemployment.

If you earn more than 20 percent of your weekly benefit rate from an employer in a given week, your partial weekly benefit payment will be reduced dollar-for-dollar for all gross wages earned that week. For example, if your weekly benefit rate is $200, your partial weekly benefit rate is $240 (20 percent more than $200.) If you earn $50 (gross) during a week, you would receive $190 in unemployment insurance benefits ($240 – $50 = $190).

Report your gross earnings and all hours worked for the week in which they were earned, not when they are paid.

If you worked on Election Day for a county Board of Elections, you do not have to report these earnings. Money earned from Election Day work does not reduce your weekly Unemployment Insurance benefit.

Who is eligible for benefits?

Find out how to apply for benefits

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When you first apply for Unemployment Insurance benefits, we look at a few different factors to see if you qualify.

Unemployment benefits are based on wage information from your employers in the last 18 months. If you live in NJ but only worked in other states, you should apply in a state where you physically worked.

We need to know why you're out of work, and whether your recent earnings meet the minimum required by law.

After you first qualify for benefits, you will need to meet some additional requirements in order to keep receiving them.

Some workers, like school employees and business owners, have their own unique qualifications. If you are self-employed and do not pay for Unemployment Insurance through your paycheck, you may not be eligible for benefits.

Read our FAQs on who is eligible for benefits here .

Unemployment Insurance benefits are meant for people who lose their job “through no fault of their own,” such as an employer’s lack of work or a layoff due to downsizing. If you voluntarily quit your job for reasons that were not work-related, or you were terminated for misconduct, your eligibility will need to be reviewed. A representative from our division (a claims examiner) will conduct a fact-finding interview by either phone or email to determine whether you are eligible for Unemployment Insurance benefits. Your employer(s) may also be requested to participate. The claims examiner will review the facts that you and your employer(s) provide, and determine your eligibility based on the law. If you were fired due to misconduct or you quit voluntarily, your benefits may be delayed or denied. Read more about quitting or getting fired.

To qualify for unemployment payments from New Jersey, you must have made at least a certain amount of money during your "base year." You don’t have to calculate your weekly benefit rate. Department of Labor staff will do these calculations when they review your application.

Your weekly payment amount is determined by the earnings you made in your base year.