Before you apply
You will need to gather several pieces of information to complete your application:
- Your Social Security number
- Permanent mailing address
- Valid telephone number
- Valid email address
- Contact information for employers you have worked for during the past 18 months
- Amount of wages earned during the past 18 months
- Additional pieces of information may be required depending on your specific claim application.
To file an initial application
To file an initial application, you can do so online. If this is the first time you are accessing the WDD website, you will need to create a personal account. Your claim is effective from the week that you file and from when you became unemployed.
If you do not have Internet access or need assistance, go to your local claims office to use the computer kiosks or ask for help.
You can file a new claim or reactivate an expired claim between 6:30 am and 11 pm, HST, Monday through Friday or from 9 am to 11 pm, HST, on weekends and holidays. You will need to print a confirmation page and download applicable forms to submit to WDD as required.
If you are in another state, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, or Canada, file your application online. Do not file an application from anywhere else.
To qualify monetarily, you will need to have earned wages for paid and insured work in at least two calendar quarters in your Base Period. Those wages must be least 26 times your weekly benefit amount (WBA) in your base period.
The base period is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters from the effective date of your new application for benefits. Under certain conditions, an alternate base period, consisting of the most recent four completed quarters, may be used.
You can combine out-of-state wages with your Hawaii wages to qualify for a valid claim or to increase your weekly benefit amount if you worked in several states during the 18 months prior to filing your Hawaii claim.
After you file an initial claim you will receive an “Unemployment Determination of Insured Status” form that will detail the wages paid by your employers during your base period, your expected Weekly Benefit Amount and your Maximum Benefit Amount which is the total amount of benefits you can receive during your benefit year, calculated as 26 times your WBA.
If you are declared invalid, you can request a reconsideration of the determination and provide appropriate documentation to substantiate your claim.
Filing weekly or bi-weekly certifications
Once you file a new claim or reactivate an unexpired claim, you must certify weekly or biweekly to request UI payments You can file claim certifications online.
If you do not have Internet connection, go to your local claims office to use the computer kiosks or visit any public library and request to use their Internet computers to access the UI claims filing website.
Unless otherwise specified, a “week” means a calendar week that starts on Sunday and ends on Saturday. A week claimed is referred to by the week ending date or the Saturday of that week.
Your confirmation page or e-mail confirmation will have a link to download your weekly/biweekly filing schedule.
For weekly filing, you certify for the past Sunday to Saturday period. The claim must be filed within seven days from the end of the certification period or benefits may be denied for late filing.
When filing biweekly, you are certifying for the prior two weeks that started on Sunday in the first week and ends on Saturday in the second week. The claim must be filed within seven days from the end of the two-week period or benefits may be denied for late filing. When you file bi-weekly, you must file separately for each week.