Thousands of Californians could be eligible for retroactive unemployment benefits, EDD says
COVID-related unemployment benefits ended 15 months ago—yet 100,000 Californians may still be eligible to get the money retroactively.
Because of changes in federal guidelines, certain people who were unemployed in 2020 and 2021 and did not meet initial eligibility requirements could now receive hundreds of dollars in weekly benefits.
Among those who may now qualify:
▪ People who refused to work for an employer that violated COVID-19 safety standards.
▪ School employees whose usual work schedule was affected by COVID-19.
▪ People laid off or whose hours were reduced as a direct result of COVID.
The California Employment Development Department has begun sending notices through the mail to anyone who may be eligible. Once they get those notices, they’ll have 30 days from the date on the notice to act.
They’ll have to send a completed reassessment form — which will be included in the notice — to the post office box listed on the EDD’s form.
EDD has been trying to find these people for some time. It sent electronic notices last year and got little response.
Why unemployment eligibility requirements changed
The change in federal guidelines allows benefits, an adjustment made as Washington continued to define who was eligible for the new program, aimed at answering questions raised by unemployment agencies and constituents.
For people who were laid off or had their hours cut as a direct result of COVID, the U.S. Labor Department rules clarified that they could also now qualify if they refused to go back to work or accept an offer of work at a worksite that was not in compliance with local, state, or national health and safety standards directly related to COVID.
Such standards include provisions related to mask wearing, physical distancing or using personal protective equipment.
School employees can now get the benefits if they can show “volatility in the work schedule that was directly caused by the COVID-19 public health emergency,” the federal regulations say. “This includes, but is not limited to, changes in schedules and partial closures.”
Why so many Californians are still eligible for benefits
Officials at the agency cited several reasons so many are still eligible. People may have figured they were turned down and so there was no more reason to check or follow up on EDD messages via their Unemployment Insurance Online account, email and text. Or they got jobs and didn’t want any more benefits.
The benefit would come from the federally-funded Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, created by Congress and President Donald Trump in March 2020 as the Covid pandemic was triggering a deep economic downturn.
About 2.9 million Californians got benefits from the program, which provided help for unemployed people who traditionally could not qualify for benefits, such as small business owners and independent contractors.
The maximum weekly PUA benefit was $450. The program ended in September 2021, as the economy continued to rebound. How much anyone can receive in benefits depends on several factors, including length of unemployment.
This story was originally published December 14, 2022 at 6:30 AM.
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