Unemployment

You can file online using the Online Claims System​, or call the UI Center and file with a claims specialist. 

Do not delay in filing your initial claim application.  Your claim is effective the week in which you submit your application; backdating of initial claim applications is not allowed. 

Whether you file online or by phone, staff need to process the application. This can take a few days when workload is heavy.  Once your application is processed, we mail you a Wage and Potential Benefit Report. 
 
On the first Sunday or Monday after you filed your application, file a claim for the prior week. You can file your claim for the prior week  online or by phone on our Weekly Claim Line. You need to file a weekly claim for each week you are unemployed and wish to receive benefits, including your first or “waiting week.“
 
If there are any issues on your claim to investigate, be sure to respond to all letters or phone messages right away. Continue to make your weekly claims while we investigate. If you don’t make a weekly claim, we can’t begin the investigation. It can take three to four weeks to complete the investigation. 
 
You may be scheduled to attend a meeting at a WorkSource Oregon center. If you do not go, your benefits will be delayed while we investigate.  Depending on the reason you didn’t go, your benefits could be denied.

Personal Identification Number
 
You chose a Personal Identification Number (PIN) when you first filed your initial unemployment application, whether you filed online or by telephone.  You will use the same PIN throughout your claim.  You will need it whenever you access the Online Claim System and to claim weekly benefits whether online or by telephone. 
 
Agency employees do not know your PIN.  If you forget it, you will have to ask us reset it so that you can choose a new PIN.  You are responsible for the security of your PIN.  Do not share it with anyone and don’t let others use it. 
 
Claimant Identification Number
 
Your Customer Identification Number (CID) is an 11 digit number unique to you. You can find this number on any prior documentation we have sent you. If you do not know your number, you should locate one of the UI documents mailed to you which contains your CID, or get a print out of it by brining photo ID to your WorkSource Center.  ​

The Waiting Week is the first week on your claim in which you meet all eligibility requirements.  You do not receive payment for your waiting week.  Every unemployment account must have a Waiting Week before we can start making benefit payments.   
 
Important:  You must claim the week in order for it to be your Waiting Week.  Simply filing your application does not give you credit for your waiting week.

If your unemployment account is valid and no adjudication issues exist, the first week you claim will be credited as your Waiting Week(see above).   If no other issues arise, your first payment will be issued in the third week.  If you submit your weekly claim on Sunday or Monday of the week, payment will be issued on Tuesday.   Electronic payments issued on Tuesday normally arrive in claimant accounts on Wednesday.
 

	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
Week 1			You file your initial unemployment application.
Week 2	File your weekly claim for week 1		Notice of waiting week credit mailed.		Notice of waiting week credit received
Week 3	File your weekly claim for week 2		First payment issued by paper check.		First payment received by paper check.
Week 4	File your weekly claim for week 3		Second payment issued electronically.	Second payment received in bank or ReliaCard account.

Note:  Federal or bank holidays will delay payment receipt.

Benefits are payable only if you are eligible.  Common issues which require investigation and could result in you not receiving benefits include:

• Quitting your job;
• Being fired or suspended from work;
• Missing an opportunity for work during a week you claim;
• Refusing work;
• Turning down or not contacting the employer when referred by a WorkSource Oregon office;
• Missing a scheduled orientation meeting with a WorkSource Oregon office;
• Illness or injury;
• Failing to look for work;
• School attendance;
• Being out of the area unless you are looking for work;
• Not being willing or ready to take work;
• Receiving retirement pay, vacation pay, or holiday pay;
• Skipping a week without restarting your claim; and
• Answering a question on your weekly claim in a way that raises an issue.

If there is a problem, we will contact you either by phone or mail.  We will explain the problem and how it could affect your claim.  We will ask you for details about the situation.  Please reply quickly if you get a form to complete, a letter asking for information, or a telephone message; your benefits could be delayed until you answer.  If you do not answer at all, we may deny benefits.
 
Continue to make your weekly claims either online or on the Weekly Claim Line while we investigate your claim.
 
We will make a decision based on information from you, your employer or other sources.  If the decision allows benefits and you meet all eligibility conditions, we pay any benefits you have coming.  Any time we deny benefits, we send you a decision explaining why we denied benefits, for what time period, how to requalify, and how to appeal if you disagree.

If there are no problems on your claim, you can expect your weekly claim filed on Sunday or Monday to be processed on Monday night.  However, if there was a holiday on Monday of the week, your payment will be delayed by a day. 
 
If you are eligible, your first payment is issued as a check mailed to your home.  After that, benefit payments are deposited either onto the Reliacard or directly into your bank account, if you signed up for electronic deposit. Payments are deposited 2 business days after your weekly claim is processed. 
 

• If you use Electronic Deposit and your bank account changes, be sure to give us the new account information by submitting another Electronic Deposit application.  If we try to deposit payments on a closed account, it will cause a delay while we reissue the payment to your Reliacard. 
• Even if you apply for Electronic Deposit, we will send you a Reliacard.  Please keep it in case we ever have a problem depositing payments to your bank account.
• For security purposes, the Reliacard is sent in a plain white envelope and does not say it is from the Oregon Employment Department. 

 
If you do not receive payment within that timeframe, first check the status of your claim online or by calling the Weekly Claim Line.
 
If you call the Weekly Claim Line, you will hear menu options.  Press “2” for payment information about your weekly claim.  You will then hear one of five messages containing instructions about what you should do next.  The messages are:
 

• The week doesn’t show as claimed;
• The week was paid;
• The week cannot be paid;
• It is too soon to tell because the week has not been processed; or
• The computer cannot find a claim for you.

 
If the status of the week is paid, and you are waiting for a check, remember that only your first payment is in the form of a check.  All later benefits are deposited onto your Reliacard or bank account.  If you haven’t received your first check, the status shows paid, and you have waited at least 10 days, please call your Unemployment Insurance Center to put a tracer on the check. 

You can change your mailing address through the Online Claim System  You will need to enter your Social Security number, your customer ID number (CID) and your PIN in order to access the address change screen.  Your CID is printed on every document we mail you.
 
You can also call your UI Center or notify us in writing of your address change, even if you have stopped reporting. 
 
Each January, we mail out Form 1099G, Statement for Recipients of Unemployment Compensation Payments, for use in filing your tax returns. We mail the form to the latest mailing address we had on each claim.  If we don’t have your current address on file, the Post Office will not forward the form. 
 
Note:  Changing your address in the iMatchskills program or with the Post Office does not change it on your claim record.

You can choose to have state or federal taxes, both, or neither withheld from your benefits.  You can change your withholding after filing your claim, but tax regulations require changes to tax withholding be made in writing.  Complete an Authorization for Tax Withholding, Form 1040WH, and mail your request to the Employment Department at PO Box 14135, Salem, OR  97309 or fax it to (503)-947-1335.  Be sure to include your name and either Social Security number or customer ID number (CID). ​​

Yes, if you received benefits during the year.  We will mail the form with tax information, called a 1099-G, to all claimants by the end of January.  We do not forward the forms returned by the post office. So, if you need to update your address, you can do so using the Online Claims System or by contacting the UI Center.  

If you have questions about how to report the information found on your 1099-G, call your local IRS office, or tax consultant.

1. Can I get my Form 1099-G information online?

Yes.  The 1099-G information for the previous year is usually available by the beginning of February. You may view and print up to five years of 1099Gs by visiting our website​. Click on “1099G tax forms.”  Enter your social security number and personal identification number (PIN) and select the tax year you wish to view. You will also have the option to print out the form. If you need help, you may contact us at: 503-947-1320.​

2. What if I received an overpayment of benefits in one year and I repaid any of it in the same or following calendar year?

The "total payment" section on your 1099-G form includes all benefits paid to you during the calendar year, including benefits that were later determined to be overpaid.   

The amount(s) reported as “benefits repaid” are based on payments received and processed between January 1 and December 31 of the tax year. Only cash repayments are reported on Form 1099-G. Benefits taken from your weekly claim(s) to repay an overpayment are not cash repayments and are not included on the form.

The repayment of penalties, interest and other costs are not considered to be a repayment of unemployment insurance (UI) benefit overpayments. So, these types of repayments are not reported on Form 1099-G.
 
For more information on how to report your repayment of UI benefits on your tax return, see Unemployment Benefits and Repayments in IRS Pub. 525 or contact the IRS directly at 1-800-829-1040.


3. What if I believe the "Total Payment" or "Tax Withheld" areas of the form are incorrect?
 
We report this information to the IRS and Department of Revenue in the calendar year in which they are paid, regardless of when the claim for benefits was filed.  Some payments received during the year may be for weeks from a prior year.  
 
If you believe the "Total Payment" or "Tax Withheld" on Form 1099-G is incorrect, contact us at 503-947-1320 during the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday (Pacific Time). All payments we sent to you and amounts withheld will be recalculated and compared to the amount on your Form 1099-G. If the amount is incorrect, an amended Form 1099-G will be issued.​

We have very strict rules about releasing information.  Certain state and federal agencies can get information from us, but only what they need to do their jobs. 
 
If you want us to be able to give information about your claim to a specific friend or family member, you must complete and return a Release of Information Authorization form before we can do that.

Retirement pay could reduce your benefits, make you ineligible, or have no effect at all.  If you are not eligible for periodic payments, it has no effect.  If an employer for whom you worked during the base year of your claim either contributed to the retirement fund or maintained it, then your retirement pay is deducted dollar for dollar. 
 
Social Security does not affect your benefits unless you do not want to work full time, put limits on the type of work you will do, or if you do not want to look for work any more.  

Yes.  If you owe child support payments and there is a court order requiring deductions, a percentage is deducted from your benefits each week.  The deductions continue until the court notifies us to stop.
 
Oregon Department of Justice - Division of Child Support ​

If you work for a temporary or employee leasing agency, you may receive benefits between assignments or if you are working part time.  You must still meet all other eligibility requirements. 
 
You are an employee of the agency even if you always work at other businesses.  When restarting your claim after working for a temporary or employee leasing agency, list the agency as your employer, not the business you were sent to help.  Also, tell us the reason the assignment ended; lack of work (completed the assignment), quitting (leaving the assignment before it ends), or being fired (taken off the assignment before it ends).
 
Assignments may last a few hours or days, or may continue for months.  When your assignment ends always check in with your agency at once.  They may have a new assignment for you.  If you refuse a new assignment, you may be disqualified from receiving benefits.

Statewide WorkSource Oregon centers provides a broad range of services to assist in your return to work.  Employer job listings, resume writing resources, career exploration tools and labor market information are among the services provided. Staff is available to assist you and introduce you to the services that will benefit you in your work search.

​During times of high workload, new claims can take up to three weeks to be processed into our system.  If you received a confirmation number at the end of the claim application, you have filed a claim.  Once we process the claim you can view the status online.  In the meantime, you should make weekly claim reports for any weeks you want benefits. 

Typically, this happens when you skip a weekly claim in error or fail to restart/reopen a claim after weeks you intended to skip.  You must call the UI Center to either restart or reopen your claim when this happens. 

We cannot make any claim determination until you file a claim.  Once filed and processed, we will mail a Wage and Potential Benefit Report (monetary eligibility).