The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday extended eligibility for unemployment benefits to those facing insecure jobs, as well as unemployed parents who had to quit their jobs when schools and child care providers closed and there was no room for work. work when the children returned to class.
Specifically, the Department of Labor has expanded the circumstances in which workers could benefit from unemployment insurance payments through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program (PUA). The order extends eligibility to:
- Workers who have been denied unemployment benefits after refusing to work in unsafe conditions
- School staff and employees who have been affected by the closure of the school through reduced salaries or who are not assured of further payment
- Any worker whose hours have been reduced or who have lost their job as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic
“Today’s guide opens the door to relief for workers who have faced difficult, if not impossible, choices between accepting a job in an insecure job to receive a steady source of income and protecting their and their health. dear ones, ”said Patricia Smith, senior adviser to the secretary of labor, said in a statement on Thursday.
In addition to allowing school staff and workers who feel insecure to claim unemployment benefits, the new guideline also provides relief for those who have had to deal with childcare and the closure of schools that affect their work, even and after the schools returned to personal presence.
“This is great news for a case I’ve seen a lot: parents [who] they left work when schools closed, jobs were replaced and then they lost their jobs, but the school reopened, “Elizabeth Pancotti, policy director at Employ America posted to Twitter on Thursday. She noted that if parents had to quit their jobs as a direct result of Covid-19, even if schools were reopened, they would be eligible for unemployment benefits.
The new guidance addresses this “blatant problem” for parents who have had to quit their jobs because their child’s school was closed because of Covid-19 and then had no job to return to when things went awry. -they reopened, says Andrew Stettner, a senior senior at the Century Foundation and a leading unemployment insurance expert.
The most recent extension of eligibility is part of the PUA program, which was established under the CARES Act aid package that Congress adopted about a year ago. The program specifically covers self-employed businesses, self-employed Americans, concert workers, and self-employed workers who have lost their jobs or significantly reduced their hours as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The PUA program is 100% federally funded, but administered by each state.
Thursday’s eligibility changes are retroactive, so workers who have previously been denied unemployment can reapply for AAP and receive benefits dating back to the beginning of their unemployment period. That being said, workers who have applied for unemployment benefits after 27 December 2020 will only be eligible for weeks after 6 December 2020.
The Department of Labor also requires states to give workers the option to select more than one reason for their unemployment based on Covid-19. In this way, they may remain eligible for benefits, even if one of the reasons disappears.
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