Unemployment Compensation and Requirements
Max Weekly Benefit Amt.
Max Weeks of Benefits
Max Benefit Amount
Unemployment Compensation
EDS determines the amount of unemployment benefits according to the gross earned wages that were covered by Unemployment Insurance Tax paid by your employer(s) during your time of employment that makes up your Base Year. When you meet all of the requirements and are found to be eligible, you will receive a Weekly Benefit Amount (WBA). You will be notified of your WBA in a determination letter, along with other weekly required actions in order to continue to claim Unemployment Insurance.
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Calculating Washington Unemployment Benefit Amounts (heading - no content needed)
Determine Your Weekly Benefit Amount
You need to know what quarters make up your Base Year in order to calculate your Weekly Benefit Amount (WBA). Your Base Year is the first four of the last five calendar quarters before the week your filed your claim. To estimate your WBA, take the total of the two highest gross earning quarters, divide that by 2, then multiply that by 0.0385. The total of that is your WBA.
Example: Total of the two highest quarters = $14,200
Divided by 2 = $7,100
Multiplied by 0.0385 = $273.35
WBAs are rounded to the nearest dollar, so your WBA would be $273
Determine Your Maximum Benefit Amount
To calculate your Maximum Benefit Amount (MBA), take the smaller of the following two:
- 26 times your WBA or
- 1/3 of your total gross wages in your Base Year
Example: 26 times your WBA = $7,098 or one-third of your total gross wages ($28,400) = $9,466
The lesser of the two, which is $7,098, would be your MBA