Unemployed in California? You could see your benefits extended through the holidays
Unemployment benefits about to run out? It probably won’t happen during the holiday season.
Qualified jobless independent contractors, business owners and others not eligible for regular state unemployment benefits can now get seven more weeks of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance payments.
The money will allow thousands of people who have been unemployed since the pandemic sent the economy reeling — and have begun to face using up all their eligibility for benefits — to keep getting up to $450 weekly.
The state’s Employment Development Department, which manages the state unemployment program and administers the PUA program in the state, said that re-computing the PUA claims should take about two weeks. That allows those nearing the end of their next bi-weekly certification period to get the additional seven weeks of benefits.
EDD says most people should not encounter a gap in benefits.
People receiving regular benefits — usually salaried or hourly employees whose employers paid taxes to the unemployment system — are also eligible for seven more weeks as part of the FED-ED extension of benefits program if they run out of their regular unemployment and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.
The FED-ED program now provides up to 20 weeks of benefits instead of the usual 13 weeks in a high unemployment period.
Of the 4.4 million Californians receiving unemployment benefits, more than 1.3 million are collecting PUA payments while 3.1 million are receiving regular state benefits.
Some questions and answers:
▪ As a PUA recipient, how will I know if I qualify for the extra seven weeks?
EDD says “eligible Californians will be notified about when they can certify for the benefits through their unemployment insurance accounts or by mail.”
▪ Once the seven week benefit period is over, what happens?
PUA recipients can collect a maximum of 46 weeks. But the entire program is scheduled to expire at the end of December, and the Trump administration and Congress are deadlocked over whether it will continue.
▪ I was collecting PUA but returned to work. If I stop working again because of COVID-19, can I get the seven weeks?
Yes, if you qualify and reopen you claim before the program expires.
▪ I was receiving regular benefits earlier this year, and was then able to qualify for PUA. What happens now?
Any weeks of benefits collected on a regular unemployment insurance claim of a FED-ED (emergency benefits) claim can be deducted from a PUA claim, EDD advises.
“Some claimants may see a reduction to the PUA weeks available because of this, although it’s a small percentage of claimants,” the agency said. “Those impacted include individuals who exhausted a regular unemployment insurance claim or a FED-ED extension earlier in the pandemic and were eligible for a PUA claim because they didn’t qualify for another regular unemployment insurance claim and remained unemployed due to a COVID-19 reason covered” under federal law.
You’ll get a notice in the mail advising you of where things stand.
This story was originally published November 5, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
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