How to Fill Out and Submit Maryland Form ES-935: Wages and Signature

Maryland Form ES-935 is the Claimant’s Affidavit of Federal Civilian Service, Wages and Reason for Separation — the state’s version of the federal ETA-935 that former federal civilian employees use to document wages, duty station, and reason for leaving when filing for unemployment through the UCFE program.¹ You fill it out after you’ve already filed your initial claim, usually as an Action Item in BEACON, and you submit it the same way it reached you. Done carelessly, it delays your benefits or creates an overpayment you have to repay. Done well, it gets a claims examiner the numbers they need to make a determination.

One boundary before the walkthrough: the ES-935 is not an appeals form. It’s an affidavit that lets Maryland move your claim forward when your former agency hasn’t responded, or hasn’t responded quickly enough.

When the ES-935 Shows Up in Your Claim

You don’t start with this form. You start by filing an unemployment claim through BEACON at beacon.labor.maryland.gov or by calling 667-207-6520, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.² Maryland then sends a request to your former federal agency to verify your employment, wages, and reason for separation. If the agency responds within 12 days, the state uses that data.

The affidavit covers the gap when the agency is slow or silent. In practice, Maryland sends nearly every federal claimant an Action Item in BEACON to complete the 935 shortly after filing. You’ll get a notification by email or text if that’s your communication preference, and a paper copy by mail if you chose mail.³ File in Maryland if your last duty station was in Maryland, if you’re a Maryland resident whose last duty station was outside the United States, or if you worked a non-federal job in Maryland after separating from federal service.²

Documents to Pull Before You Start

The affidavit asks for specific dollar figures and dates. Guessing is the single most common reason federal claims get held up or overpaid, so gather these first:

Your SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action). Box 20C shows your salary or pay rate; Box 39 shows your duty station. This is the most useful single document for completing the affidavit.
Your SF-8 (Notice to Federal Employee About Unemployment Insurance), which your agency should hand out at separation. If you don’t have one yet, a recent SF-50 showing salary and duty station works as a substitute at the first-filing stage.
W-2s or pay stubs broken out by calendar quarter. You’ll report wages quarter by quarter, so records already sorted that way save real time.
Severance pay documentation: the total amount and the start and end dates of the period it covers.
Pension information: your gross monthly amount, if you’re entitled to a federal pension.

Maryland accepts SF-50s, SF-8s, W-2s, and pay stubs as proof of income and federal employment.³

Filling Out the Form Section by Section

The ES-935 has ten numbered sections. Some are pre-filled by the state; the rest need your input.⁴ If you’re completing the form through BEACON, several identifying fields carry over from your initial application.

Sections 1 Through 8: Identifying Information

Section 1 is the state agency’s address, pre-filled by Maryland. Section 2 is your full legal name and current mailing address. Sections 3 through 6 cover administrative data: your local office or call center ID, the date of your request, your claim’s effective date, and your date of separation from federal employment. Section 7 is the name and address of your former federal agency. Section 8 is your Social Security number.

Section 9: Wages, Severance, Pension, and Reason for Separation

This is the heart of the affidavit and the part most likely to trip people up.

9a — Duty station. Enter the city and state of your last official duty station. This determines which state handles your UCFE claim, so get it right.

9b — Quarterly wages. List gross wages by quarter, from the beginning of your base period through your separation date. Under “Documentary Evidence,” identify what you used (for example, “W-2” or “pay stubs”) and attach a copy. Maryland’s standard base period is the first 12 months of the 18-month period before you filed; if those wages don’t qualify you, the state checks an alternate base period using your four most recently completed calendar quarters.⁵

9c — Severance pay. Check “Yes” or “No.” If yes, enter the total entitlement and the start and end dates of the period it covers. Severance can affect eligibility for the weeks it covers, so the dates matter as much as the amount.

9d — Pension. Check “Yes” or “No” on whether you’re entitled to a federal pension, and if yes, enter the gross monthly amount. Pension income from a base-period employer can reduce your weekly benefit.

9e — Reason for separation. Explain why you left in factual, specific terms. “Position eliminated in reduction in force,” “Term appointment expired,” or “Removed during probationary period” are the kinds of statements a claims examiner can act on quickly. Attach a signed explanation if you need more room.

Section 10: Signature and Date

Sign and date the form. The affidavit carries a warning that false statements to obtain benefits carry legal penalties, and that any determination made from your affidavit can be corrected later once your former agency responds. If the agency’s figures differ from yours, your benefit amount will be adjusted and any overpayment must be repaid.⁴

Submitting the ES-935

If the form arrived as a BEACON Action Item, complete and submit it in the portal and wait for the confirmation screen before you close your browser. If you received a paper copy by mail, return it to the Maryland Department of Labor by mail or fax. The Division of Unemployment Insurance handles federal employee claims through its main claimant services channels.³

Don’t sit on it. If you fail to complete the 935 and your former agency also doesn’t send proof of income, the state cannot process your claim at all.¹

What Happens Next

Once Maryland has either your affidavit or your former agency’s response, a claims examiner reviews the information and issues a benefit determination. It arrives through BEACON and through whichever communication method you selected at filing, and it tells you whether you’re eligible, your weekly benefit amount, and how many weeks you can collect. Maryland pays up to 26 weeks of regular unemployment benefits.⁵

A determination based on your affidavit isn’t necessarily the last word. If the agency later provides wage or separation information that differs from what you reported, Maryland will adjust the benefit amount. Any resulting overpayment is deducted from future benefits or has to be repaid.⁴ That’s the practical reason to report conservatively from documented sources: a lower, accurate figure gets corrected upward without penalty, while an inflated one creates a debt.

If the determination that follows your affidavit goes against you, that’s a separate process — Maryland allows 15 days from the mailing date of the determination to file an appeal through BEACON, by mail, by email, or by fax.⁶ The ES-935 itself has nothing to do with that step; it only sets the stage for the decision you might eventually need to appeal.

1
Maryland Department of Labor. Federal Employees: Frequently Asked Questions About Unemployment Insurance
2
Maryland Department of Labor. Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) Claimant Flyer
3
Maryland Department of Labor. How to Apply for and Collect Benefits
4
U.S. Department of Labor. ETA-935 Claimant’s Affidavit of Federal Civilian Service, Wages and Reason for Separation
5
Maryland Department of Labor. General Overview of Regular Unemployment Insurance Program
6
Maryland Department of Labor. Unemployment Insurance Appeals