Official Site of The State of New Jersey
How alternate base years are calculated
If your earnings during the regular base year period do not meet the required minimum, we can review your earnings in two alternate base year periods to see if they are enough.
You may qualify for benefits if you worked at least 20 base weeks (for claims filed in 2025, these are weeks during which you earned at least $303), or earned at least $15,200 in any one-year period over the last 18 months.
You can't pick and choose which time periods you want to use to qualify.
When you apply for Unemployment Insurance benefits, we have to see how much you've earned over the last 12 to 18 months. We look at two alternate base year periods, as outlined below, if your earnings during the regular base year period were not enough for a valid claim.
Alternate Base Year #1 consists of the four most recently completed calendar quarters preceding the date of claim:
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If your claim is dated in: |
Your claim is based on |
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January 2025 |
January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024 |
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April 2025 |
April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025 |
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July 2025 |
July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025 |
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October 2025 |
October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025 |
If you still do not qualify for a claim using Alternate Base Year #1, then we review a second alternate base year.
Alternate Base Year #2 consists of the three most recently completed calendar quarters preceding the date of claim, and weeks and wages in the filing quarter up to your last day of work. This alternate base year will contain less than 52 weeks.
|
If your claim is dated in: |
Your claim is based on |
|
January 2025 |
April 1, 2024 to date of claim |
|
April 2025 |
July 1, 2024 to date of claim |
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July 2025 |
October 1, 2024 to date of claim |
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October 2025 |
January 1, 2025 to date of claim |
