To qualify for unemployment benefits filed on January 1, 2008 or later a worker must:

• Have worked in covered employment and earned wages of at least $1,500 in one quarter of the base period and there must be wages in the other quarters of the base period which total at least $750 to establish a minimum claim. A worker's base period is the 12-month period consisting of the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before the beginning date of the claim.

  The total wages in the base period must be at least one and one-half times the worker's high quarter wages. The worker may still be qualified if he or she has wages in at least two quarters of the base period and the total of these wages equal $18,000.

• Be out of work due to no fault of his or her own.

If you are an insured worker and qualify for benefits your weekly benefit amount will be 4% of the average of your two highest quarters. This amount cannot be more than $320 per week.

The most you can receive during the benefit year is 26 times your weekly benefit amount or one-third of your base period wages, whichever is less. When figuring your maximum benefit amount using either method, the base period wages are limited to 26 times your weekly benefit amount.