Unemployment benefits in Missouri

Can I get benefits?

You must have been paid at least $1,500 in one quarter of your base period, and total base-period wages of at least 1.5 times your highest quarter.

Law: RSMo 288.030.1(22)(b)

If you quit

If you quit without good cause attributable to the work or your employer, you are disqualified.

If you were fired

If DES finds you were fired for misconduct connected with your work, you are disqualified.

Law: RSMo 288.030.1(23), 288.050

Quit, fired, refused work and the federal rules →

The wage test, the amount and your estimate →

How much and how long?

Weekly benefit

up to $320

Weeks

Up to 20 weeks

Waiting week

A waiting week

Working part time

The amount not deducted is the greater of $20 or 20% of your earnings that week.

How it is figured, the full rules and the estimate tool →

How to file in Missouri

File online in UInteract: create a user ID, then choose File Unemployment Claim. You can also file or get claim information by calling a Regional Claims Center at 1-800-320-2519.

File as soon as you lose your job or your hours are cut.

What to have ready

• Your Social Security number
• Gross earnings for the week, including vacation, holiday or WARN pay
• Name, address and dates worked for every employer in the last 18 months

Certify (claim your weeks)

Weekly. File a Weekly Request for Payment in UInteract after each week ends, as early as Sunday.

Everything about filing →

Appeal a denial

• Appeal to the Appeals Tribunal (Referee) — 30 calendar days from the date of the determination (the last day to appeal is printed on the determination)
• Application for Review to the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission — 30 calendar days from the mailing date of the Referee's decision (shown just above the Referee's name)
• Appeal to the Missouri Court of Appeals — 20 calendar days

Deadline calculator, appeal letter and hearing checklist: Appeal details →

The hearing

Format

Most hearings are by telephone.

Notice before the hearing

7 days

Overpayments and waivers

If you got benefits you were not entitled to, you must repay them, even if it was not your fault.

Appeal within

30 days from the date of the overpayment determination

Fraud penalty

25% added when the overpayment is fraud

Waiver

Not available in our data for regular benefits.

Law: RSMo 288.380.9, 288.381

Waiver details and the hearing checklist →

Someone filed a claim in your name

If you think someone filed a claim in your name, or you got a Form 1099-G but did not get benefits that year, call DES at 1-573-751-4058 and press option 5 for the Special Investigations Unit. You may need to show proof of identity at a Missouri Job Center. You can also email form MODES-4631 to special.investigations@labor.mo.gov.

• Report it online
• Phone: 1-573-751-4058

National steps

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Check your free credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com or 877-322-8228. Report other identity theft at IdentityTheft.gov.
4. 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

Good to know in Missouri

• Missouri pays at most 20 weeks, and the maximum weekly benefit has been $320 since 2008 (RSMo 288.038; DES Help Topics).
• The waiting week is paid at the end of your claim, once the remaining balance is one week or less.

  Law: RSMo 288.040.1(4)

Questions about unemployment in Missouri