About LayoffNow

LayoffNow exists for one moment: the day someone loses a job and has no idea where to start. We explain how unemployment insurance actually works — filing, eligibility, benefit amounts, weekly certification, and appeals — in plain English and Spanish, for all 50 states.

Why We Built This

Every state runs its own unemployment insurance program with its own rules, forms, and deadlines. The official state sites are authoritative but often hard to navigate under stress. We built LayoffNow to sit one layer above those sites: a clear explanation of the process, paired with real agency contact information — phone numbers, portal URLs, filing hours — so you can act immediately without having to hunt.

How We Work

Our editorial process:

  1. We source benefit figures (maximum weekly benefit, duration, waiting week, work search requirements) from the U.S. Department of Labor's official state UI data tables and each state's agency website.
  2. Phone numbers and physical addresses on state pages are fetched directly from the official state agency website — we do not guess or use third-party directories.
  3. Federal legal citations (WARN Act, ADEA, COBRA) reference the actual U.S. Code sections.
  4. State-specific UI statutes are cited by their standard codification and linked to state legislature sites where available.
  5. We flag data that has not been re-verified against the most recent state publication, and we direct users to the official source for binding numbers.

See our full Sources & Method page for the detailed policy, including our corrections process.

What We Are — and Are Not

We are an independent information resource. We are not a government agency, not affiliated with any state's labor department or the U.S. Department of Labor, and not a law firm. We do not process claims, hold anyone's personal claim data, or make eligibility determinations. Every page links out to the actual agency that does. Nothing on this site is legal advice.

By the Numbers

50states covered
8UI topics
800live pages
EN + ESfully linked

Corrections and Feedback

Found something inaccurate, outdated, or confusing? We treat corrections as a priority — a report from a user directly triggers a review of that page. Reach us through our contact page or at hello@layoffnow.com.