It pays off big time, Trump-appointed federal prosecutor in NC resigns at President Biden’s request. Meanwhile, those who don’t qualify for traditional state unemployment benefits could get up to 39 weeks of benefits via the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program (PUA) in the CARES Act — that has now been bumped up to 50 weeks. Documentation from medical professionals related to diagnosis or isolation instructions, Notices from school or childcare providers, Notices from county or state government regarding business closures or stay at home orders, Documentation that a job offer or need for your services was cancelled or delayed because of COVID-19. Sophie Kasakove is a Report for America Corps member covering the economic impacts of the coronavirus. Sign up for the Afternoon Update and get the day’s biggest stories in your inbox. If you were laid off, the state unemployment office would calculate whether you'd receive benefits for the $30,000 via PUA or $20,000 via unemployment insurance but not a combination of the two. PUA extends unemployment benefits to people who don't traditionally qualify, including self-employed, freelance and gig workers. Even as the new federal stimulus extends PUA, thousands in North Carolina await approval or denial for claims filed in the program’s first round. Claimants have to re-certify and be re-approved each week. The PEUC is essentially an extension of regular state unemployment (funded under the CARES act) and allows for up to an additional 13 weeks of benefits added to the end of regular unemployment benefits. Typically, states have two years to comply with any federal unemployment policy changes, compared with the two weeks they got to set up PUA, said Evermore. The two quickly applied for unemployment and started receiving benefits in March. GOP bill would let UNC and NC State fans attend games. (i.e., Joe Claimant or Joe Claimant’s Business). Complete your Weekly Certifications for every week you are filing for benefits. On the next page, self-employed workers and independent contractors should click on the green Manual Entry button. Both had uploaded doctor’s letters attesting that their underlying conditions made working too risky. They didn’t hear anything for weeks. And then, the checks stopped coming. 3. DES must review claims individually to determine whether a person is eligible for PUA. PUA benefits are only for individuals who are unemployed due to COVID-19 reasons, it does not cover: NC overpaid unemployment benefits to thousands of people. If, weeks later, that person no longer has COVID-19, that would not be a valid reason for continuing to receive PUA benefits. For example, a person may have been found eligible for PUA after certifying that they were unable to work because they were diagnosed with COVID-19. Key enhanced unemployment provision extensions include: Pandemic Unemployment Assistance ( PUA ) The PUA program, designed for freelancers, gig workers and independent contractors or those that generally don’t qualify for regular state unemployment, has been extended by … However, claimants may be eligible for a phaseout period to receive PUA through no later than the week ending April 10, 2021, if they receive a PUA payment for week ending March 13, 2021, and have not received the maximum benefit weeks for the program. All individuals collecting PUA will receive $300 per week from Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), in addition to weekly benefits as calculated above. Any benefits owed for previous weeks will be paid retroactively. By the end of September, their phone company began intermittently shutting off their service until they’d put together enough to pay some of the bill. PUA benefits may not be less than half of the state's average weekly benefit amount. Like anything, when you have a system that’s designed to accommodate a small number of people and you have hundreds of thousands, it’s hard to make it work as well as it should,” Nickel said. “W. Beginning Friday, May 22, North Carolinians who have exhausted their state unemployment insurance benefits can apply for an extension of benefits through the federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program (PEUC). 63.6k. How Unemployment Insurance Extensions Work. Just under half of the applicants — 248,000 — have been found eligible for at least one week. Pandemic Unemployment Assistance line: 866-847-7209. “We have the money to do it, and I’m just hoping that we can convince Republican leadership to help throw jobless workers a lifeline.”. federal CARES Act program for people who are unable to work as a result of COVID-19 and who are not eligible for regular state unemployment benefits Did PUA benefits officially get extended and if so, do I have to reapply? This extension began December 27, 2020, under the Continued Assistance for Unemployed Workers Act of 2020. It wants the money back. People are not automatically eligible for PUA when they exhaust state unemployment benefits and extensions. You must submit a Weekly Certification after each week for … No PEUC or PUA is available after April 5, 2020. ... A place for your unemployment insurance questions. Both Ham and Helfgott’s PUA claims were pending for weeks before they received denial letters. That same week nationwide, on the other hand, the number of initial state unemployment claims was more than two and a half times the number of initial PUA claims: 841,111 were for state unemployment and 302,262 were for PUA. Examples of documents to show past employment and income: Examples of documents to show COVID-19 as the reason for loss of work: 2. Claimants who are found to have received benefits fraudulently are required to repay the Division of Employment Security and could be subject to criminal prosecution pursuant to state and federal laws. By comparison, the overall average approval rate for all unemployment programs in the state is 67%. “I’m approved, then I’m denied, and the money’s coming, then the money doesn’t come. Ongoing eligibility for PUA is evaluated on a week-by-week basis, and claimants must be out work due to a COVID-19 related reason under the CARES Act each week to keep receiving benefits. Provides an additional $600 per week in UI benefits, through July 31st. The PUA program expires March 14, 2021. People with mild COVID cases may still experience symptoms for months, study says. The federal COVID-19 relief bill, signed into law on Sunday, will provide an extension of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits for up to 11 weeks. DES recommends you upload all necessary documents with your application before you click ‘Submit.’ However, you can submit your application even if documents, such as tax returns, are not yet available. Help us cover your community through The News & Observer's partnership with Report For America. They had used up their maximum number of weeks of state unemployment benefits, plus two federal extensions established through the CARES Act. * 24 weeks of Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Assistance (PEUC) are available in all states before extended benefits become available; maximum weeks of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) for exhaustees equals 50 minus the number of weeks of regular UI and Extended Benefits (EB) received. Are we going to be able to make our bill for our phone so we can communicate with unemployment?”. The program is unprecedented, offering relief to people typically excluded from unemployment benefits. As Christmas approached, the couple spent a day making deliveries for Doordash to make enough to buy Charlie a few presents from Walmart and the Dollar Tree. According to DES, 17,712 people had a pending PUA claim on Dec. 23. In your Weekly Certification, report any wages you earned during that week. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. The two called and emailed DES repeatedly for an explanation or an update. Claimants are now receiving payments under the 11-week extensions of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) programs. Navigating the unemployment system has turned into a “full time job,” she said, that’s “literally in your mind 24/7: Are we going to survive today? Across the country, state unemployment offices struggled to ramp up the PUA program from scratch in the early months of the pandemic. She also worried about bringing the virus back to the small Raleigh house she shares with Helfgott and her 11-year old daughter, Charlie, who has a heart murmur and other underlying conditions. Roy Cooper, said the “legislature should increase the value and length of state unemployment benefits, which are the lowest in the country.”. To receive payments, you must complete a Weekly Certification for every week you file for benefits. People who exhaust their state unemployment are potentially eligible for PUA, a federal program set up to assist gig workers and self-employed people, and people who have used up state benefits. “Without further Congressional action, the last payable week for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) is the week ending Dec. 26, 2020,” according to the release. According to McComber, the communication issues stem from the “massive volume of claims and increased complexity of claims” during the pandemic and the agency’s now managing six new federal unemployment programs. Log into your online account to complete your Weekly Certification. North Carolina Division of Employment Security, File, Adjust or Review Quarterly Tax & Wage Report, Petition for Judicial Review in Benefits Case, Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, Account Creation and Sign In–Employers and Remitters FAQs, Account Creation and Sign In–Individuals FAQs, Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) FAQs, Eligibility Review for Interstate Claimants (Out of State) FAQs, Employability Assessment Interview (EAI) FAQs, Employer Tax Rate and Account Number Verification, Unemployment Insurance Benefits Between School Terms FAQs. Pandemic Unemployment Assistance is a federal pandemic assistance program that is separate from state unemployment insurance benefits. In North Carolina in the week ending Dec. 26, there were roughly the same number of initial claims made for PUA as for state unemployment insurance: 8,080 claims were for state unemployment and 8,097 were for PUA, according to data from the federal Department of Labor. [Approved Stimulus Package] Congressional leaders have passed a circa $900 billion stimulus plan that includes funding for an approximately 11 week extension (to March 14th 2021) to federal pandemic programs (PUA, PEUC) and additional supplementary unemployment benefits at $300 FPUC per week for millions of unemployed or underemployed Americans who … But on Dec. 23, the day after The News & Observer sought comment, DES reopened their claims and approved them both for PUA. Of the more than 500,000 people who’ve applied for PUA in North Carolina since the end of March, 140,000 have been found ineligible, said Kerry McComber, spokesperson for DES. people unemployed. The challenges were especially acute, she said, because “we ignore the unemployment system when times are good, so [states] just had no capacity to stand up these new systems.”. File Your Weekly Certification. PUA is not payable for any week of unemployment ending after December 31, 2020. There are provisions for extending COVID related enhanced unemployment benefit programs like Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) by six months until the end of September 2021. But she remains perplexed by a system that left them with no choice but to borrow in the first place. For the weeks they received the federal $600 supplement, they managed fine. On the Employment History page, select Add North Carolina Employer. “We could increase benefits a lot and it wouldn’t cost taxpayers a cent,” said Nickel. The state already has the money for these changes, said Nickel, noting that the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund had around $4 billion in it before the pandemic, and still has close to $2.6 billion today. The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) provides up to 39 weeks of unemployment benefits to individuals not eligible for regular unemployment compensation or extended benefits, including those who have exhausted all rights to such benefits. Forest, It’s February, but this Triangle town already is calling off the July 4 fireworks, NC school board will rename school honoring segregation-era leader despite concerns, Vote for the News & Observer high school athlete of the week (2.26.21), Thunderstorms leave Wake and Johnston counties, but check out the Triangle forecast, COVID-19 vaccine live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Feb. 22, COVID-19 vaccine live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Feb. 23, He gives $20 bills to the homeless, aiding Raleigh’s neediest by himself, Raleigh man uses his family’s birthdays to play the lottery. PUA is payable for weeks of unemployment, partial unemployment, or inability to work caused by COVID-19 related reasons beginning on or after January 27, 2020. President Trump signed a $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill on Sunday that extended federal unemployment benefits. If you are currently receiving state unemployment benefits, you will not see a link to file for PUA. If a parent had to stay home with their kid who can’t go to school and then four months later the daycare opens, it’s not like that parent can just go back to work,” said Michele Evermore, a senior analyst at the National Employment Law Project. The new federal COVID-19 relief law will require implementing additional federal benefits and extensions, McComber said. The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, established by the federal CARES Act, was Kat Ham and Aaron Helfgott’s last hope. But once that program ended, they struggled to live off Ham’s $127 a week and Helfgott’s $93 in state benefits. Ham and Helfgott said they never got a straight explanation about the reversal, either. Will hold virtual fireworks instead a link to complete your Weekly Certifications for every week you are for... 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