The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday extended eligibility for unemployment benefits to those in insecure jobs, as well as unemployed parents who had to quit their jobs when schools closed. child care providers and had no job when the children returned to the classroom.
Specifically, the Department of Labor expanded the circumstances under which workers could qualify for unemployment insurance through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program (PUA). The order extends the eligibility to:
- Workers who were denied unemployment benefits after refusing to work in unsafe conditions
- School staff and employees who have been affected by the closure of schools due to reduced pay or who are not guaranteed to continue paying
- Any worker whose working day is reduced or who loses their job as a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic
“Today’s guidance opens the door to relief for workers who have had difficulty, if not impossible, choices between accepting work in an insecure job to receive a steady source of income and protecting their health and that of their loved ones, ”Patricia Smith, senior adviser to the Labor secretary, said in a statement on Thursday.
Beyond allowing school staff and workers who feel insecure to claim unemployment benefits, the new guidance also offers relief to those who have had to deal with childcare and the closure of schools that affect their jobs. work, even after schools returned to attend in person.
“This is great news for a case we’ve seen a lot: parents [who] he left work when schools closed, jobs replaced them and then he lost his job, but the school reopened, “Elizabeth Pancotti, political director of Employ America tweeted Thursday. He noted that if parents had to leave their jobs as a direct result of Covid-19, even if schools were opened, they could receive unemployment benefits.
The new guidance solves this “blatant problem” for parents who had to leave work because their son’s school closed because of Covid-19 and then had no job to reopen things, says Andrew Stettner, Century Foundation and leading expert on unemployment insurance.
The latest extension of eligibility is part of the PUA program, which was established under the CARES Act aid package that Congress passed about a year ago. The program specifically covers business owners, American self-employed workers, contract workers, and self-employed contractors who are unemployed or who have significantly reduced 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 were previously denied unemployment can re-apply for PUAs and get benefits that go back to the beginning of their unemployment period. That said, workers who applied for unemployment benefit after December 27, 2020 will only be eligible for weeks after December 6, 2020.
The Department of Labor also requires states to offer workers the option to select more than one reason for their unemployment based on Covid-19. That way, they can still be eligible for benefits, even if one of the reasons fades.
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