Montana Code 39-51-2204. Maximum benefit amount
39-51-2204. Maximum benefit amount. Any otherwise eligible individual is entitled during the individual’s benefit year to a total amount of benefits equal to the individual’s weekly benefit amount, as calculated according to 39-51-2201, times the number of full weeks of benefit entitlement appearing in the following table in the line which includes the individual’s ratio of total base period earnings to the highest quarter of earnings in the base period:
| Ratio of Total Base Period | |
| Earnings to High Quarter | Full Weeks |
Terms Used In Montana Code 39-51-2204
- Base period: means :
(a)the first 4 of the last 5 completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the first day of an individual's benefit year;
(b)if the individual does not have sufficient wages to qualify for benefits under subsection (2)(a), the 4 most recently completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the first day of the individual's benefit year;
(c)in the case of a combined-wage claim pursuant to the arrangement approved by the secretary of labor of the United States, the period applicable under the unemployment law of the paying state; or
(d)for an individual who fails to meet the qualifications of 39-51-2105 or a similar statute of another state because of a temporary total disability, as defined in 39-71-116, or a similar statute of another state or the United States, the first 4 quarters of the last 5 completed calendar quarters preceding the disability if a claim for unemployment benefits is filed within 24 months of the date on which the individual's disability was incurred. See Montana Code 39-51-201
- Benefit year: means the 52-consecutive-week period beginning with the first day of the calendar week in which an individual files a valid claim for benefits, except that the benefit year is 53 weeks if filing a new valid claim would result in overlapping any quarter of the base period of a previously filed new claim. See Montana Code 39-51-201
- Benefits: means the money payments payable to an individual, as provided in this chapter, with respect to the individual's unemployment. See Montana Code 39-51-201
- Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
- Weekly benefit amount: means the amount of benefits that an individual would be entitled to receive for 1 week of total unemployment. See Montana Code 39-51-201