Work announces that the PUA benefits extension is now available

The Department of Labor and Human Resources (DTRH) confirmed on Thursday that the extension Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program (PUA) is now available, so people who receive this benefit can continue to apply and receive additional compensation of $ 300 for 11 weeks.

According to the secretary of the agency, Carlos Rivera Santiago, citizens can access PUA cyber platform and make your claims. These will take place from the first week of January to March.

“Certainly, this will bring economic relief to all the self-employed who benefit from this benefit, which will culminate in the coming months, according to the federal government. The first week of additional benefits you could claim is January 2, 2021, and the last week of extension of this compensation will be March 13, 2021.. If the claimant still has benefits available, he could continue to claim until the week ending April 10, 2021, “the official said in a press release.

He added that a group of beneficiaries who have completed the process and keep their deposit directly registered, will see the payment which so far amounts to about 10 million dollars reflected in their bank accounts.

While, The agency works with the contractor responsible for the system that processes unemployment claims so that the programming of the new economic package is available..

“We are working to update the system, we hope to make the announcement soon so that unemployment claimants can benefit from these compensations, as well as PUA claimants,” he said.

The additional $ 300 for PUA beneficiaries is part of the US Congress pandemic bill approved for the COVID-19 pandemic.

The measure also includes $ 600 checks for most of the island’s citizens, which would be delivered once the federal government authorizes the Treasury Department’s distribution plan.