How to File for Unemployment in Tennessee

File online 24/7 at Jobs4TN.gov after creating an Unemployment Claimant e-Services account. Have your Social Security number, driver's license number, contact information, alien registration number if applicable, bank routing and account numbers for direct deposit, DD-214 if you served in the military in the past 18 months, and your employment history for the last 18 months including your separating employer's name, address and phone number and the reason you left. Complete any fact-finding questionnaires by their due date (within 7 days of filing). Certify weekly starting the first Sunday after you file, even before a decision; if you wait more than 3 weeks to certify, your claim is closed and you must refile.

The base period is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before the quarter you file. You must have earned an average of $780.01 in each of two quarters of the base period; your wages outside the highest quarter must be at least the lesser of $900 or six times your weekly benefit amount; and your total base period wages must be more than 40 times your weekly benefit amount.

You must complete at least four job searches or re-employment activities each week and report them on your weekly certification; services at an American Job Center can also count. Accepted activities include submitting a resume or job application, attending an interview or job fair, taking a civil service exam, and completing a department-approved job search plan or skills assessment. Exceptions apply if you have a definite return-to-work date with your employer, get work only through a union hiring hall, or are in agency-approved training.

Tennessee claimants log in to their Unemployment Claimant e-Services account on Jobs4TN.gov to file a Weekly Certification for the prior week; a new certification becomes available each Sunday, and the link appears on the Summary screen and in the Action Center. You report earnings and four work search activities each week. If you wait more than 3 weeks to file a certification, your claim is closed and missed weeks can no longer be filed. The Summary screen's Benefit Details panel shows claim status, and determinations and wage protests are handled in the same account. Department of Labor and Workforce Development toll-free line: 844-224-5818.