Unemployment benefits in Mississippi
Mississippi calls it Unemployment Insurance (UI), run by Mississippi Department of Employment Security (MDES). You may get $30 to $235 a week for up to 26 weeks, after a waiting week.
Opens ReEmployMS (MDES Online Unemployment Claim Services) on the state's site.
Or call 601-493-9427 · New or reopened claims by phone: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Online filing is available 24 hours a day. · TTY 1-800-582-2233
Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.
Can I get benefits?
You must have wages in at least two quarters of your base period, at least $780 in your highest quarter (26 times the $30 minimum weekly benefit), and total base-period wages of at least 40 times your weekly benefit amount.
Law: Miss. Code Ann. sec. 71-5-511(e)
If you quit
If you quit without good cause, you are disqualified until you work again and earn at least 8 times your weekly benefit amount.
If you were fired
If you were fired for misconduct connected with your work, you are disqualified until you work again and earn at least 8 times your weekly benefit amount.
Law: Miss. Code Ann. sec. 71-5-513(A)(1), (3)
How much and how long?
- Weekly benefit
$30–$235
- Weeks
Up to 26 weeks
- Waiting week
A waiting week
- Working part time
The first $40 you earn in a week is not deducted.
How to file in Mississippi
File online at any time through MDES's online claim services (you must first register for a user name and password), or call the MDES Contact Center at 601-493-9427, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. People with military, federal or other-state wages may file by phone.
File as soon as you become unemployed.
What to have ready
- Your Social Security number
- Names, addresses and phone numbers of all employers in the last 18 months
- The dates you worked for each employer and why you left
Certify (claim your weeks)
Weekly. File a weekly certification online after each Sunday-to-Saturday week ends.
Appeal a denial
- Request for reconsideration of an initial determination — 14 calendar days from the date the determination was mailed or sent electronically
- Appeal to an Administrative Law Judge (Appeals Department) — 14 calendar days from the date the determination was mailed to your last known address or sent to your email address on record
- Appeal to the Board of Review — 14 calendar days from the date of notification of the Administrative Law Judge's decision
- Action for judicial review in circuit court — 10 calendar days
Deadline calculator, appeal letter and hearing checklist: Appeal details →
The hearing
- Format
- By telephone conference, unless you ask for a video or in-person hearing and MDES decides it is needed.
- Notice before the hearing
- 7 days
Overpayments and waivers
An overpayment means you were paid benefits you were not eligible for.
- Appeal within
- 14 days from the date the determination was mailed or sent electronically
- Fraud penalty
- 20% added when the overpayment is fraud
- Waiver
- Not available in our data for regular benefits.
Law: Miss. Code Ann. secs. 71-5-19(4), 71-5-389, 71-5-517
Someone filed a claim in your name
If you think someone filed a claim using your information, email safe@mdes.ms.gov with all the details, or call 601-493-9427 and choose the Benefit Payment Control/Fraud option. If your 1099-G does not match what you received, write to the address on the form explaining why.
- Report it online
- Phone: 601-493-9427
National steps
- Report it to the state where the claim was filed and follow its instructions. Some states ask for a police report or a sworn statement.
- If you got a 1099-G for benefits you did not receive, the state will send a corrected 1099-G. When you file taxes, report only the income you actually received; do not wait for the corrected form.
- Check your free credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com or 877-322-8228. Report other identity theft at IdentityTheft.gov.
- You can also report unemployment identity fraud that happened after March 2020 to the U.S. Department of Justice National Center for Disaster Fraud. You must still report it to the state.
U.S. Department of Labor: report unemployment identity fraud
Free help in Mississippi
Legal aid
- North Mississippi Rural Legal Services (free civil legal aid, northern Mississippi)
- WIN Job Centers (free help with claims and job search)
Agency guides and handbooks
- MDES: Unemployment Claims
- MDES: Unemployment FAQs
- MDES: Properly Report Earnings
- MDES: Weekly Claims Procedures
- MDES: Mississippi Employment Security Law and MDES Regulations (PDF)
The agency's unemployment page (MDES)
National help
Go deeper
How to file in Mississippi
What to have ready, when your claim starts, certifying and your first payment.
Weekly benefit amount in Mississippi
The wage test, how the amount is figured, weeks, the waiting week, part-time work and an estimate.
Appeal a denial in Mississippi
Every level and deadline, a deadline calculator, an appeal letter, the hearing and overpayments.
Quit or fired in Mississippi
What the state says about quitting, being fired and refusing work.
Good to know in Mississippi
- Mississippi's maximum weekly benefit, $235, has not changed since July 1, 2009.
Law: Miss. Code Ann. sec. 71-5-503
- The deadline to go to circuit court is very short: 10 days after the Board of Review's decision becomes final.
Law: Miss. Code Ann. sec. 71-5-531
- At least one of your 3 weekly employer contacts must be a job application or interview.
Law: MDES Regulation 305.02
Changes in 2024–2026
No changes in 2024-2026 to the $30-$235 weekly amounts, the 26-week limit, the $40 earnings allowance, the waiting week or the 14-day appeal deadlines; bills to raise the maximum or change the duration in the 2024, 2025 and 2026 sessions all died in committee. The appeals and disqualification sections were reenacted by Laws 2023, ch. 510, effective April 17, 2023.
Law: S.B. 2810
Questions about unemployment in Mississippi
How do I file for unemployment in Mississippi?
File online at any time through MDES's online claim services (you must first register for a user name and password), or call the MDES Contact Center at 601-493-9427, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. People with military, federal or other-state wages may file by phone.
How much is the weekly benefit in Mississippi?
The weekly benefit is $30 to $235. Maximum: benefit years beginning on or after July 1, 2009. Your weekly benefit amount is 1/26 of your wages in the highest-paid quarter of your base period, rounded down to the dollar.
How many weeks of unemployment can I get in Mississippi?
Up to 26 weeks. The most you can get in your benefit year is the lower of 26 times your weekly benefit amount or one-third of your total base-period wages, rounded down to the dollar.
What is the deadline to appeal an unemployment denial in Mississippi?
Appeal to an Administrative Law Judge (Appeals Department): 14 calendar days from the date the determination was mailed to your last known address or sent to your email address on record. File as early as you can.