Unemployment Benefits

• Unemployment benefits are provided solely to people who are currently without work -- or who have had their hours so reduced that they are making significantly less than they did previously. A person cannot hold a full-time job and still receive unemployment benefits, as laws in all 50 states forbid this. This is because the person would not be unemployed and would, theoretically, not need the benefits.
  
  

Benefit Calculation

• The amount of money a person receives in the form of benefits depends in large part on how much money he made at the job he was working at before he got fired and how much income he is making -- from any source -- now. Each state has a different formula to calculate the allotment of benefits, but all states pay a person only a percentage of what he made in his previous job.
  
  

Reporting Income

• While a person is receiving benefits, he is required to report nearly all types of income to the unemployment agency, in addition to informing them if he receives a new job. Generally, if a person receives a new job, then the agency will cease to provide him with benefits. If a person fails to report income or a job, he may face serious financial penalties if this fraud is discovered.
  
  

Considerations

• The only way that a person could possible be receiving more in benefits than he made during his full-time job would be if he worked at a significantly higher paying job for a long period before moving to another job, where he received much lower pay, and was fired from this job. In such a case, if benefits are calculated from money received at more than one previous job, benefits could amount to more than his most recent previous salary.