When Can I Expect My First Payment?

The soonest you will receive a payment is during the third week of your benefit account.

Why do I have to wait until the third week?

• You always request benefits for a prior week. You cannot request benefits for the current week or a week in the future.
• The first week you are eligible for benefits is a "nonpayable" or "waiting" week.
• For most applicants, the second week is the first payable week and is requested the third week of their account.

Your first payment may be delayed beyond the third week if:

• You had earnings greater than your weekly benefit amount or worked 32 or more hours (see "How does working affect my benefits?").
• You are receiving some other payments (see "Income That May Affect Benefits").
• Additional time is needed to obtain information to determine your eligibility for benefits (see "What if I'm unemployed for a reason other than layoff?").

I requested a payment for my first week and the amount was $0 – why?zero

This is because everyone must have one "nonpayable" or "waiting" week of unemployment before any benefits can be paid. To receive credit for the nonpayable week, you must:

• Submit an application for benefits (a week that you are unemployed cannot be your nonpayable week if you do not submit an application).
• Submit a Benefit Payment Request (if you do not submit a Benefit Payment Request, you will not get credit for the nonpayable week).
• Be eligible for benefits for the week.

There is just one nonpayable week in 52 weeks after you apply. If you are unemployed again within one year of the date of your account, you will not have another nonpayable week.