What if i earn a commission while on unemployment

Almost every state sets your payments according to what your employer paid you in the "base period" — four of the last five quarters. If your commissions were small, your unemployment checks will be too. Some states won't qualify you for unemployment payments at all if your commission income fell below the state minimum requirement. If your state decides you're not qualified, you don't have to let the government have the last word.

You can appeal if you think the law and the facts are on your side. For example, if your commissions for the base period meet the state minimums but your employer misreported the amounts, you can present the correct figures at your appeals hearing. If you quit for a valid reason — sexual harassment, say — that can count in your favor too.

Can Commissioned Salesmen Get Unemployment? By Chron Contributor Updated October 29, Nolo: Collecting Unemployment Benefits. For example, in Illinois, workers whose entire income was derived from commission during the base period are ineligible for unemployment benefits. Workers who received a base salary plus commission, however, are allowed to use the commission as part of the total income earned during the base period.

State unemployment offices typically require beneficiaries of unemployment insurance to report any income earned during the previous reporting period. For example, Tennessee requires people collecting unemployment to file a claim report once a week for the previous week. Any income earned during that previous week, whether or not it has been paid to the worker, must be reported, including commission earnings. Each state sets a threshold on how much a worker can earn before that week's benefit is reduced.

Income must be reported regardless of its origin, including commission income. States vary on when the reporting of commission payments must be completed. His duties were to appraise property owners to have a home or addition built on their property. These commissions were considered earned at the time of the sale, but were not payable until the transaction was recorded following title search and the processing of credit reports and loan papers.

The claimant terminated his employment with the company in December. The following January, February, and March, he received commissions on the transactions made by him prior to his termination.

The Board held that the claimant was not employed and not in receipt of wages during January, February, and March. In so holding, the Board said:. The claimant had fully performed all of his services in connection with each transaction when he submitted his report recommending approval of the loan.

The amount he was entitled to receive for each approved appraisal was already determined. Under these facts, it seems clear that the commissions were fully earned at the time of the sale, but under the employment contract were not payable until the transaction was recorded. Exceptions to the general rule of allocating commissions to the period when earned will occur when the following conditions exist:.

If the period in which services were fully performed cannot be reasonably established or the amount of the commission cannot be determined until received, allocate to the week in which the commission is paid. The following examples will help to clarify how certain types of commissions should be allocated. A real estate salesman and the buyer come to terms and a contract is entered into.

Payment of the commission is contingent upon the closing of escrow and determination by the broker as to the amount of the commission. Since it would be impracticable, if not impossible, to determine when services were performed in negotiating the sale, allocation to the period when actual services were performed is not feasible. The commission should be allocated to the week in which paid by the broker.

A real estate broker negotiates a sale and receives his commission upon the closing of escrow.