Contact Unemployment Office

• If your unemployment claim is inactive because of failure to file a recertification form or failure to search for full-time work as required, contact your unemployment office to find out whether you can reopen your claim. State policies vary on this matter; in many states, you must have a solid reason for not filing your claim as required such as serious illness or death in the family to reopen a claim if you failed to file as required.
  
  

Opening New Claim

• If your unemployment claim is inactive or you need to reopen a claim for any reason after 12 months have passed, you may need to file a new unemployment claim. If your unemployment benefits have expired, you generally cannot file a new claim if you haven't worked at all. The unemployment office evaluates your income for the past year to determine whether you are eligible for new unemployment benefits. Contact your unemployment office if your benefits are nearing exhaustion to discuss your options.
  
  

Working Part Time

• If you work part-time during a given week, you may be eligible to receive partial benefits. After your benefit year is over, if you lose your part-time job, you may open a new claim for unemployment. The unemployment office will use the money you made from your part-time job to evaluate your new claim for unemployment. You may qualify for fewer benefits than you did when you originally opened a claim because you made less money from your part-time job.
  
  

Job Loss

• If you stop claiming benefits because you get a new full-time job and are then laid off from that job, you may be able to reopen your claim if less than 12 months has passed or open a new claim if more than 12 months have passed. Contact your unemployment office to find out how to reapply for unemployment if you face this situation. As with part-time employment, if more than 12 months have passed, your unemployment benefits may be different because of the difference in the income you made over the past 12 months.