Low-Wage Workers
Low-wage workers are often denied unemployment benefits despite having worked as many hours as higher paid workers or because of inequitable  state rules that fail to count all their recent earnings.  NELP resources provide models for reform that benefit low-wage workers, including the “alternative base period.”

Part-Time & Temporary Workers
State rules typically require part-time workers to seek full-time work to qualify for unemployment benefits, while also discriminating against most temporary workers.  NELP resources are available documenting the range of state policies and models for reform that benefit part-time and temporary workers.

Family Friendly
Women workers, domestic violence survivors, and caregivers of children, aged or sick family members have an especially difficult time qualifying for unemployment benefits because of outdated eligibility rules that fail to take into account the realities of today’s working families.  NELP resources are available documenting the range of state UI policies regulating work and family and proposed models for reform.

Long-Term Jobless 
UI policies addressing the needs of the long-term jobless take on special significance when unemployment rises and growing numbers of workers exhaust their 26 weeks of unemployment benefits.   NELP resources are available documenting  state and federal initiatives that extend unemployment benefits and expand opportunities for job training.

Immigrant Workers
Many eligible immigrant workers are denied or delayed access to unemployment benefits when states fail to adopt procedures required by civil rights laws to make their UI programs accessible to workers whose first language is not English.  NELP resources, including translated worker rights fact sheets, are available to address these and other key immigrant worker policies.