Owner-Employees

• Generally, if you are a sole proprietor or member of a partnership, you are not, technically, an employee of your own business. To be an owner employee, you must have a corporation, or a limited liability company that has elected to be taxed as a corporation for income tax purposes, though state laws can vary on the particulars. Some states will ask you to submit documentation detailing the circumstances of your employment, and to determine whether your unemployment is truly beyond your control, as an officer of the corporation.
  
  

Premiums

• To qualify for benefits, your employer must have been paying premiums into the system. If you have a corporation, and your corporation has been paying premiums to the state unemployment compensation system, you might well be eligible for unemployment benefits, provided you meet the other qualifications.
  
  

Wage Base Period

• Each state has its own regulations on how it defines the wage base period, but essentially, all states require you to have shown at least some income during the wage base period, which is the 12 to 18 months immediately prior to filing a claim. Some states will also require you to demonstrate you have earned income in multiple quarters of the wage base period. Frequently, they calculate benefits based on your earnings during this period. Generally, only the amount you take in salary counts toward calculating unemployment benefits. Amounts you take in the form of dividends or distributions from a corporation or LLC will not count.
  
  

Other Qualifications

• Most states do not allow seasonal employees to collect unemployment benefits, nor employees designated as "temporary." Companies do not pay unemployment insurance premiums on independent contractors they hire, and independent contractors are therefore not eligible for unemployment benefits, though their employees might be. Generally, commissioned salespeople are also not eligible for unemployment benefits. If you have income from other sources, including pension fund distributions, you will generally have to declare that income, and unemployment officials will deduct the amount you earn -- or a percentage of it, depending on the state -- from your weekly benefits.