West Virginia’s Form B-11, the Low Earnings Report, is the form your employer files with WorkForce West Virginia when your hours drop but you stay on the payroll, so you can collect a partial unemployment benefit for that week. It reports your reduced gross wages for a specific Sunday-through-Saturday week and lets the agency pay the difference between what you earned and what your weekly benefit would otherwise be. If you’re the worker, your job is to make sure the earnings on the B-11 match what you actually worked and to file your own weekly claim on top of it.
When the Form Applies
West Virginia Code §21A-1A-27 sets a specific dollar test. You are partially unemployed in any week where your wages fall below your weekly benefit amount plus $60, the shortfall is due to a lack of full-time work, and you have not been separated from your employer. You must also have earned at least $61 that week; below that, you’re treated as totally unemployed rather than partially unemployed.1West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 21A-1A-27 – Total and Partial Unemployment
So the trigger is narrow. Your employer cut your hours because the work wasn’t there, you’re still employed, and your gross pay for the week lands between $61 and your weekly benefit amount plus $60. Choosing to work fewer hours doesn’t qualify. Neither does a full separation from the job, which is handled as a regular unemployment claim rather than through a B-11.
How the Partial Benefit Is Calculated
Your weekly benefit amount is set by the benefit table in West Virginia Code §21A-6-10, with a maximum of $662 for workers whose base-period wages reached $62,650 or more. The total maximum on any claim equals 26 times your weekly rate.2West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 21A-6-10 – Benefit Rate, Total Unemployment
The partial-week math is simple. You can earn up to $60 in a week with no reduction. Every dollar above $60 comes off your weekly benefit dollar for dollar.3WorkForce West Virginia. Claimant Frequently Asked Questions If your weekly benefit amount is $300 and you earned $160 in a low-earnings week, the first $60 is ignored, the remaining $100 is subtracted, and your partial payment is $200.
Because partial weeks draw down less than a full weekly benefit, a claim balance may remain after 26 weeks. When that happens, you can keep drawing at the same weekly rate until the total maximum is exhausted.2West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 21A-6-10 – Benefit Rate, Total Unemployment
What Goes on the Form
Benefit weeks in West Virginia run Sunday through Saturday, and a B-11 covers one such week ending on a Saturday.3WorkForce West Virginia. Claimant Frequently Asked Questions The form typically captures:
- The business name and WorkForce West Virginia employer account number.
- Your full legal name and Social Security number.
- The Saturday week-ending date.
- Gross earnings for that week, based on when the work was performed, before any deductions.
- A reason for the reduced hours, typically “lack of work.”
Two points on the earnings field carry most of the risk of a bad payment. First, it’s gross pay, not take-home. Second, wages are reported for the week the work was performed, not the week the paycheck arrives.3WorkForce West Virginia. Claimant Frequently Asked Questions
How the Form Gets Filed
Employers prepare and submit the B-11. The form is available through WorkForce West Virginia’s employer forms page, and the agency accepts it by fax at 304-558-1324 or by email to uctaxunit@wv.gov.4WorkForce West Virginia. Application Forms Email is the agency’s preferred submission method for employer forms.5WorkForce West Virginia. Navigate the Unemployment Process
Timing matters. WorkForce West Virginia requires employers to respond to information requests within four days of the mailing date on the form.6WorkForce West Virginia. Employer Handbook Discrepancies between employer-reported figures and what a claimant reports on the weekly certification are among the most common causes of delayed payments and overpayment investigations, so the gross-earnings figure should match payroll records for the specific Saturday-ending week.
What You Still Have to Do as the Worker
Getting a Low Earnings Report from your employer does not replace your own weekly claim. You still file the weekly certification, and you still report all gross earnings for the week the work was performed, including any wages from a second employer that week. The agency cross-references employer-reported data against your weekly claims, and mismatches trigger overpayment determinations.3WorkForce West Virginia. Claimant Frequently Asked Questions
Report gross pay: full wages before taxes, health insurance, or retirement contributions come out. The $60 allowance and the dollar-for-dollar reduction above it are applied automatically. You just need to give an accurate total.
If the Numbers Don’t Match
If WorkForce West Virginia decides you were paid more in partial benefits than you were entitled to, usually because reported earnings didn’t line up with payroll, the agency issues an overpayment determination. Under West Virginia Code §21A-7-11, it can recover overpaid benefits by withholding future benefit payments, filing a civil action, or using other collection methods authorized by the code.7West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 21A-7 – Practice, Procedure and Review
Fraud-based overpayments carry mandatory penalties and cannot be waived. For non-fraud overpayments, you may be able to request a waiver or a repayment plan, evaluated case by case. Reporting earnings accurately every week, and comparing your figures against the B-11 when you can, is the way to avoid getting there.
If Your Claim Is Denied
If a partial benefit claim is denied or you disagree with an overpayment determination, you have eight calendar days from the mailing date of the deputy’s decision to file an appeal. Miss that window and the decision is final.7West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 21A-7 – Practice, Procedure and Review
The appeal goes to a hearing before an appeal tribunal, where you can present your case. If you disagree with the tribunal’s ruling, you have another eight calendar days to appeal to the Board of Review. A final appeal from the Board’s decision goes to the West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals within 30 days of the mailing of that decision.7West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 21A-7 – Practice, Procedure and Review The clock runs from the mailing date, not the day you open the envelope, so don’t sit on a notice you plan to challenge.