Virginia Unemployment Checklist: Weekly Work Search Rules, Excel Log and Documents to Gather

Who it is for

People claiming unemployment in Virginia who need to keep a weekly work search record for Virginia Employment Commission (VEC), and family members helping them stay organized.

Not the right fit if

You claim unemployment in a state other than Virginia, or you need help with a denied claim or an appeal: this organizes the weekly work search record and doesn't advise on eligibility.

Why it is different

• Built only from our Virginia work search data file, checked November 2026 against 1 official page: VEC: Your unemployment benefit rights and responsibilities.
• 4 items the official pages didn't state are printed as "Not confirmed — check" with the agency's page, never guessed.
• The Excel summary flags any week with fewer than 2 logged activities, recalculating with zero formula errors.

What is inside

• Virginia weekly work search log (Excel). A log with general columns (Date, Activity, Employer or organization, Address, website or email, How you made contact, Result), since the official pages we checked didn't list required fields, a weekly summary that counts your activities against Virginia's 2 per week and a documents checklist.
• Start here: Virginia filing and work search steps. The 7 facts Virginia Employment Commission (VEC)'s pages confirm, each with its source and check date, and 4 marked "Not confirmed — check": official list of activities, official log form, what to record for each activity, how the week is counted. The weekly requirement, in the agency's words: At least 2 job searches or contacts for work each week, within the week claimed, unless VEC advises otherwise. How to report: Online weekly filers submit their contacts with each weekly claim in the Virginia Unemployment Insurance System. Phone filers give basic information by phone and send detailed contacts every four weeks on the Work Search Record form. Activities Virginia counts: in-person or telephone contacts with someone in the company who has hiring authority; contacts for work you're willing and qualified to do, at pay you'll accept, where you're willing to work. Records: Keep your work search records for at least one year after your benefit year begin date. Job bank: Virginia Workforce Connection. Who may not have to search, per the agency: union members who get work through a VEC-approved hiring hall contact the hall each week instead.
• Documents to gather. A checklist of the papers a claim usually asks for (IDs, employer names and dates, pay records, separation papers), with space for anything Virginia's application adds.
• Printable weekly work search log. A paper version of the log, one week per page, for claimants who prefer to write it down.