The Mississippi Department of Employment Security (MDES) has announced a list of qualifying factors to determine eligibility for the Extended Benefits (EB) program, including an explanation on when the Extended Benefits are payable.
The EB program was established to pay benefits during periods of high unemployment to workers, including federal civilian employees and ex-military personnel who exhausted their basic entitlement to regular state and federal unemployment benefits. The State of Mississippi triggered the Extended Benefits on May 17, 2020. Extended Benefits are payable only after exhaustion of regular unemployment compensation and emergency unemployment compensation.
To qualify for benefits, the individual must have:
- Exhausted all rights to regular Unemployment Compensation (UC) under state law;
- No rights to regular UC with respect to any unemployment compensation law of another state;
- Exhausted Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC);
- Wages in the base period (with respect to the regular UC claim that exhausted) that include 40 times the weekly benefit amount;
- No disqualifications that would prevent the individual from being eligible for extended benefits; and
- Have at least one week in the benefit year that begins in an EB eligibility period.
Individuals who are potentially eligible will receive written notification.
