Unemployment Claims and Appeals Q: What is a base period?
The base period is a year-long period of time that determines both the amount of UI benefits a claimant can potentially draw and which employers will be in line for potential chargebacks if benefits are paid. Lagging behind the date the initial claim is filed, the base period is defined as the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the initial claim. An easier way to think about it is to take the date the initial claim is filed, disregard that quarter (the quarter in progress), disregard the quarter immediately preceding that one (the lag quarter), and then go back in time four calendar quarters. That year-long period will be the base period, and any employer that paid the claimant wages during any of those quarters will be potentially liable for chargebacks. The liability will be proportional to the amount of wages the employer paid in relation to other base period employers, i.e., if you paid half the claimant’s wages during the base period and
