Unemployment insurance is a state-operated program designed to partially replace lost wages when individuals are out of work. Like fire, accident, health, and other types of insurance, it is for emergencies: when individuals are temporarily or permanently out of a job or if they work less than full time because of a lack of work.The program ensures that, if individuals meet the eligibility requirements of the law, they will have some income while they are looking for a job, up to a maximum of 26 full weeks in a one-year period, depending on when the claim was established. Unemployment insurance, however, cannot and does not protect individuals against wage losses while they are absent from work due to illness or while they are idle by choice.