Eligibility

• Georgia requires that you be unemployed through no fault of your own to collect unemployment benefits. This means that if you were fired for just cause or left on your own accord, you cannot claim the benefits. You also must have made enough wages to satisfy their wage requirements during the previous five calendar quarters before you filed your initial claim. During the 15 months before the claim, you must have worked at least six months and the amount you made in total must be one and half times the amount you made during the highest quarter.
  
  

Initial Claim

• Once you are certain you meet the eligibility requirements, you must file your initial claim. File your claim as soon as possible to speed up the claim process. You have three options for filing the claim. You can go online to the Georgia Department of Labor to fill it out. For those without computer and Internet access, you can go to a local Department of Labor office to use their computers or send in the application by a mail. To file an initial claim you will need your social security number, your former employer's information and your contact information.
  
  

Job Search and Certification

• After the Georgia Department of Labor verifies your initial claim, you will receive a benefits letter by mail. From that point on, it is up to you to keep your eligibility by actively searching for employment. You must make yourself available to work the entire time you collect unemployment benefits. You must also keep a log of your employment search to present if you are asked to do so. Then, every week you must call into the unemployment hotline or log onto the site to certify for your benefits. Essentially, you will just answer questions about your job search, whether you turned down any work or whether you were available to work.
  
  

Calculating Payments

• Shorty after your biweekly certification, you will receive your unemployment insurance payment by direct deposit or through a benefit debit card. The amount you receive depends on how much money you made during your base period. Your base period is the first four of the five complete calendar quarters before you filed your initial claim. Your weekly unemployment benefit will be about half of your average salary during your base period. Georgia unemployment payments must be between $44 and $330 per week. If your base period wages put your payments outside of the guidelines, the Department of Labor will adjust it to fit within them.