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Gig-workers, freelancers, and self-employed people in Pennsylvania can now reap benefits.
Pandemic unemployment assistance has returned, and with it the automatic weekly $ 300 boost. The CARES Act program, commonly known as PUA, expired at the end of December.
Eligible recipients in Pa. Can apply for unemployment benefits for 11 weeks, which can be applied retrospectively to early January.
Applications are open from 22 to 29 January. People who submitted to PUA last year can expect to receive payments as early as Tuesday, January 26, according to Sarah DeSantis, spokeswoman for the Department of Labor and Industry. It will take a little longer for new files.
The additional payment of $ 300, which is automatically added to your account once approved, should arrive approximately one week later. (The pandemic boost used to be $ 600, but this time it was halved.)
“We know … Pennsylvania and their families rely on these PUA benefits to get through this terrible pandemic and have worked as fast as possible to complete the implementation and resume payments,” said Jennifer Berrier, acting secretary of L&I , said.
More than 358,000 Pennsylvania residents are currently accumulating unemployment, according to the state’s unemployment panel. It is more than one in every 35 residents of Dad, and it contains about 47,000 people in Philadelphia. Since March, the Commonwealth has distributed more than $ 33 billion in unemployment benefits. About $ 14 billion of that was the extra weekly boost.
If you are approved for PUA, you will automatically receive the extra boost, known as Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, or FPUC.
If you are asking if you are eligible, how to apply and when you will get the money, this is what you need to know.
Anyone who is not eligible for traditional unemployment can claim PUA benefits.
This applies to:
- Gig workers
- Freelancers
- Own employees
Everyone who qualifies for unemployment benefits, traditional or PUA payments, automatically qualifies and receives the extra $ 300 FPUC payments.
The weekly benefit differs from the $ 300 / week lost-wage assistance program implemented late last summer, where filers had to take extra steps to receive the funds.
If you did not apply for PUA last year, you still need to complete the application, but you will not start receiving benefits yet. The state has said it will notify residents when the first time PUA files can start collecting benefits in 2021.
“We are still adding 2020 as a base pay year into the system,” DeSantis said.
If you have already submitted to PUA fortnightly before the program ends, you can start with the same dashboard any time between Friday 22 January and 29 January if you miss the deadline on 29 January, meaning you need to email ucpua @ pa. governor to request backdating.
People eligible for PUA who did not submit for the week ending December 26 must reopen a claim to receive benefits. Select ‘Weekly Benefits File’ in your dashboard and ‘Submit your weekly certification to continue your claim.’ Follow the instructions to reactivate your claim from there.
One comment from L&I: If you tried to submit PUA after it expired and received an error message, the staff of the department should resolve your account. “Please be patient,” the department said in a statement.
Tuesday, January 26, is the earliest possible date that Pennsylvania states that apply according to the state and qualify for it will receive it.
Payments will be made in one lump sum, and will be retrospective and cover qualifying weeks, including:
- January 2
- January 9
- January 16
- January 23
Once approved, all you have to do is receive the $ 300 weekly payment. You will receive it automatically about a week after you receive your first PUA payment, L&I spokeswoman Sarah DeSantis said.