What to do in the first week after a layoff

Contact your state's unemployment insurance office as soon as possible after your job ends. File with the state where you worked; if you worked in another state or in more than one, the office in the state where you live now can tell you how to file.

You will need the start and end dates of your last job and your former employer's address. Give complete and accurate details to avoid delays.

Your first payment usually comes two to three weeks after you file, and some states have an unpaid waiting week first. Keep filing your claim each week you are unemployed.

No state or federal unemployment program charges a fee to file. A message asking you to pay to file is a scam.

Write down your last employer, your start and end dates, your state unemployment office's phone number and the day you applied. CareerOneStop's after-a-layoff worksheet has room for each.

Ask your plan administrator for the Summary Plan Description of your health and retirement plans. It explains what your benefits are.

Employers with 20 or more employees are usually required to offer COBRA, which lets you keep your group health coverage for a time. You must choose it by the 60th day after the written notice is sent or the day your coverage ended, whichever is later. Coverage after a job loss generally lasts up to 18 months, and you usually pay the entire premium, plus perhaps a 2 percent fee.

Losing job-based coverage also lets you pick a Health Insurance Marketplace plan through special enrollment, within 60 days before or after the loss.

The Department of Labor warns that money you withdraw from a retirement plan may be taxed as income and may affect your unemployment benefits. Generally, a withdrawal before age 59 ½ also carries an extra 10 percent tax.

If you move the money straight to another retirement plan in a direct rollover, no tax is withheld from it.

No federal law requires severance pay; it is a matter of agreement between you and your employer. Read the offer and ask about anything you do not understand before you sign.

If severance was due to you under your employer's plan and you did not get it, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) at the Department of Labor may be able to help.

American Job Centers give free help to find jobs and training. Ask whether you may be eligible for the dislocated worker program or for funds for short-term training.

For other help, such as health insurance, food support, or rent and utility bills, CareerOneStop's State Resource Finder lists programs in your state.

The federal WARN Act requires some employers to give notice before a plant closing or mass layoff. The Department of Labor says the Act helps ensure advance notice of qualified plant closings and mass layoffs.

NewsIntel reads the WARN lists that state labor agencies publish and links every notice to the list it came from. Look for your employer there.