Revised 11/29/18

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO FILING UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE CLAIMS

CONTENTS: Registering in NEworks and Creating a Resume 2

Filing a New Claim 5

Searching for Work in NEworks 6

Filing a Weekly Claim 10

Reviewing Your Work Search Contacts 19

This guide is not intended to take the place of the law, but to provide you with a general understanding of some of the requirements. This guidance document is advisory in nature but is binding on an agency until amended by such agency. A guidance document does not include internal procedural documents that only affect the internal operations of the agency and does not impose additional requirements or penalties on regulated parties or include confidential information or rules and regulations made in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act. If you believe that this guidance document imposes additional requirements or penalties on regulated parties, you may request a review of the document.

Department of Labor

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Before you file your claim, read the Handbook for Unemployed Workers and Frequently Asked Questions at dol.nebraska.gov/UIBenefits To begin the claim process, go to NEworks.nebraska.gov. From the home page, sign in to your NEworks account or register if you are a new user.

Registering in NEworks and Creating a Resume

Besides filing for unemployment, use NEworks to search for jobs, research labor market trends, and learn about training and education programs.

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New Users: If this is your first time visiting NEworks, choose Option 3 – Create a User Account – Individual in the registration screen

After you have completed your registration, you will be directed to your dashboard. Choose Resume Builder from the left menu to get started building or uploading your resume. You must have a resume in NEworks that is accessible for employers to view unless you have a recall date confirmed by your employer within 120 days of your layoff date or you are filing a claim for Short-Time Compensation.

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To make your resume available to employers, select that option in the Résumé Name section.

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Filing a New Claim Once your resume is completed, Choose Unemployment Services from the following options:

Choose File a New Unemployment Claim.

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You will be brought to the following screen, which lists information you should have on hand when filing and gives information about the claiming process.

Continue through several more screens to complete the filing of your new claim. You will know that your claim has been submitted when you receive a confirmation number.

Example below:

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Searching for Work in NEworks If you live in Nebraska or an out-of-state county bordering Nebraska and do not have a recall date confirmed by your employer within 120 days of your layoff date, you must make at least five work search contacts per week. At least one of your contacts must be completed using NEworks, and you must be logged in for the NEworks contacts to be recorded properly. Work search requirements will change throughout the duration of your claim.

After logging in, select Job Search from the Quick Menu on the left side of the screen.

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In the Search Criteria box, you can select the area of Nebraska in which you want to search and enter a job title of your choice in the keywords field.

To view a job you are interested in, click the job title.

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To progress to the application options, click on the “How to apply for this job” button.

Select the option of your choice to continue the process.

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After you file your new claim or reopen your existing claim, you must file a weekly claim for benefits each week you are requesting payment, even if your eligibility is being decided or you have an appeal pending.

The unemployment benefit week begins on Sunday and ends on Saturday. You have from Sunday through Friday at midnight CT to file a claim for the previous week.

To file a weekly claim, sign into your NEworks account and click Unemployment Services, then File a Weekly Claim for Benefits.

Filing a Weekly Claim

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Click File Your Weekly Certification to Continue Your Claim.

The dates of the week you are certifying and the weekly claim number will display.

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Read the “Explanation of Weekly Certification Process” and proceed to the next screen.

After reading and acknowledging the “Know the Rules” information, you will have the opportunity to review your contact information. Make sure it is up to date because important information will be mailed to you.

Next you may be required to watch a short video, or read the script if you are unable to watch the video.

If you have a recall date confirmed by your employer within 120 days of your layoff date, skip to page 16 of this instruction guide.

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If you logged any contacts during the past week, those will appear. If not, you will have the opportunity to enter them by answering “Yes” to the “Additional Job Contacts” question. After you click Next >> you can enter the contacts. Work search contacts that display a red circle with an X in the middle do not meet requirements for your five weekly contacts. You may click on the Update Status link to fill in any missing information. To show additional progress toward being hired (for instance a second interview) with an employer you contacted in a prior week, you will need to add the employer again.

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After answering “Yes” to the “Additional Job Contacts,” the following page will appear. Enter all work search contact information. You will need to repeat this process for each contact required for the week you are certifying. If the job contact was made in NEworks, the Initial Contact Method should be set as Using this web site.

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Be sure that you have entered all of your contacts and all of the required information. You won’t be able to add or modify the work search contact information after proceeding to the next page. After all work search contacts have been added or updated (at least 5 displayed green check marks), select “No” in response to the question, “Would you like to add additional contacts not listed above for the week….” then proceed.

After you click Next >> you will see two confirmation pop‐up boxes.

Your weekly work searches may be audited. If your recorded work search contacts are not verifiable, you may be disqualified from benefits and required to repay benefits previously received for the audited week. Under the provisions of the Nebraska Employment Security Law, misrepresentation of your work search or any other information may result in loss of eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits.

Next you will be taken to the weekly claim information page. After you read the instructions, click CONTINUE.

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You will be presented with the “Weekly Certification‐Wage Information” page. Each time you file a weekly claim, you will be asked if you worked. Answer “yes” if you performed any work, even if it was temporary, part‐time, or self‐employment. If you worked for more than one employer in a week, add your earnings from all employers. For self‐employment, report your weekly earnings after you deduct your direct business expenses for that week. If you earned less than your weekly benefit amount for any claimed week, you may be eligible for partial benefits. Report your earnings even if your earnings are higher than your weekly benefit amount. This will stop your claim for that week. You will need to reopen your claim by Saturday of any future week your earnings are reduced in order to claim benefits for that week. After you answer the questions, click CONTINUE.

Answer the eligibility questions, then click CONTINUE.

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You will then see the “Closing Statement” page. Make sure all of your answers are correct. To edit a response, use the BACK button at the bottom of the page. After you click Submit, you will not be able to change your answers. You will need to check all boxes at the bottom before being allowed to submit your weekly claim.

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After you click Submit, you will be presented with a confirmation number. This will confirm that you have completed the weekly claim process. Please keep the confirmation number for your records.

If you are using a public computer, be sure to sign out of your NEworks account to protect your personal information.

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REVIEWING YOUR WORK SEARCH CONTACTS You can view the work search contacts you submit each week.

From the Unemployment Services Dashboard, click on File a Weekly Claim for Benefits.

Under Weekly Certification Review, click on the dates listed under Week Ending to view a detailed list of work search activity for the benefit week claimed.

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Listed are your job contacts and applications by benefit week claimed. View the contact details by clicking on each job listed under Job Title.

You may review and edit all work search contacts previously entered by selecting the Work Search Log

link.

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Select the underlined job title to review and/or edit the contact. You can also add work search contacts completed outside of NEworks by selecting the Enter an Offline Job Application link.

If you are using a public computer, be sure to sign out of your NEworks account to protect your personal information.

Equal Opportunity Program/Employer TDD: 800.833.7352

Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities TTY: 402-471-0016