To file your Alabama unemployment weekly claim by phone, call 1-800-752-7389 toll-free, 334-954-4094 in Montgomery, or 205-458-2282 in Birmingham. You can also file online through the Claimant Portal at uiclaimantportal.labor.alabama.gov. Either way, you have six calendar days after the claim week ends to complete the certification, and you must file every week you want benefits.1Alabama Administrative Code. Alabama Administrative Code 480-4-3-.08 – Claims and Registration for Benefits for Total and Part-Total Unemployment
The Numbers to Call
Alabama offers three phone lines that connect to the same automated certification system:2Alabama Department of Labor. Claimants – Alabama Department of Labor
- Toll-free: 1-800-752-7389
- Montgomery: 334-954-4094
- Birmingham: 205-458-2282
The system answers your questions with keypad prompts, so any touch-tone phone works. Pick whichever number is local to you or use the toll-free line from anywhere in the state.
One number to know about but not to call for weekly filing: 1-800-361-4524 is the Department’s callback line for general questions and help with problems on your claim. If you call it before 5:00 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, a representative calls you back the next business day.3Alabama Department of Labor. Claims and Benefits It will not accept your weekly certification.
What to Have Ready Before You Dial
The certification moves quickly once it starts, so gather everything first:
- Your Social Security number.
- Your four-digit PIN, which you created when you filed your initial claim.
- The gross earnings from any work you performed during the claim week, meaning total pay before taxes or deductions — hours worked times your pay rate. Report earnings for the week you worked, even if the paycheck hasn’t arrived yet.4Alabama Department of Workforce. Debit Cards, Fraud, Overpayments FAQ
- Your work search records for the week. Alabama requires at least three contacts with different prospective employers each week, with dates and details.5Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 25-4-77 – Benefits Eligibility Conditions
You cannot list the same employer week after week unless that employer has signaled they are hiring again since your last contact. The Department randomly audits at least five percent of work search records each week, so keep the documentation organized.
You also need to be registered with an Alabama Career Center and keep that profile current the entire time you collect benefits, unless you qualify for an exemption.6Workforce Alabama. Unemployment Services Skipping the registration can make you ineligible even when your certifications are filed on time.
Walking Through the Call
The automated system asks for your Social Security number and PIN first. Then it moves through yes-or-no questions: were you able and available for work, did you look for work, did you earn any money, did you refuse any job offers. Punch in each answer carefully. A wrong entry can flag your claim for manual review, and manual reviews delay payment.
At the end, the system reads back a summary of your answers. Listen through it. If anything is off, you get a chance to correct it before submitting. Stay on the line until you hear a confirmation or receive a confirmation number. If you hang up before that, the certification usually did not go through, and you will have to call back and start over.
When to File
Alabama’s claim week runs Sunday through Saturday. You can file the certification for that week starting the following Sunday, and you have six calendar days from the end of the claim week to get it done.1Alabama Administrative Code. Alabama Administrative Code 480-4-3-.08 – Claims and Registration for Benefits for Total and Part-Total Unemployment3Alabama Department of Labor. Claims and Benefits
Miss that six-day window and you lose benefits for the week. There is no grace period for going back and picking up weeks you skipped. The phone system runs around the clock, and the online portal keeps a similar schedule, but system maintenance can take either offline during late-night hours. File early in the week when you can.
Reporting Part-Time Earnings
Working part-time does not automatically disqualify you. Alabama disregards earnings equal to one-third of your weekly benefit amount before reducing your benefit. If what remains after the disregard is still less than your weekly benefit amount, you receive a reduced payment for that week rather than nothing.
Report gross earnings, not take-home pay, and report them for the week the work was performed. Underreporting is not a shortcut. The Department cross-checks against employer wage reports and quarterly audits, and any discrepancy becomes an overpayment you owe back.
Why Accuracy on the Call Matters
Providing false information or hiding earnings on a weekly certification is treated as fraud under Alabama law, with penalties that scale by amount:7Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 25-4-145 – Penalties and Limitation of Actions
- Over $2,500: Class B felony.
- $500 to $2,500: Class C felony.
- Under $500: Class A misdemeanor.
A first fraud finding also brings a 52-week disqualification from benefits, jumping to 104 weeks for a second. Fraudulent overpayment balances accrue interest at two percent per month with an additional 15 percent penalty, and you must repay the balance in cash before the disqualification period ends even if the 52 or 104 weeks have run out.7Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 25-4-145 – Penalties and Limitation of Actions The state can also offset future benefits to collect.4Alabama Department of Workforce. Debit Cards, Fraud, Overpayments FAQ
Honest mistakes are handled differently, and a waiver process exists for non-fraudulent overpayments. But a waiver will not be granted if the overpayment traces back to an inaccurate statement you made and should have known was wrong.8Legal Information Institute. Alabama Administrative Code r 480-4-4-.07 – Waiver of Requirement to Repay Overpayments The safer path is simple: report what actually happened during the week, every week.