Labor announces that the extension of PUA benefits is now available

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

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

“Certainly this will bring economic relief to all self-employed workers who receive this benefit which will culminate in the coming months as the federal government has advanced. The first week of additional benefits they could claim is January 2, 2021 and the last week of the extension of this compensation will be March 13, 2021.. In the event that the claimant still has benefits available, he could continue to claim until the week ending April 10, 2021, ”the official stated in a press release.

He added that a group of beneficiaries who have completed the procedure and keep their direct deposit registered, will see reflected in their bank accounts the payment so far amounting to about $ 10 million.

In the meantime, the agency works with the contractor in charge of the system that processes claims for unemployment insurance compensation so that the programming of the new economic package is available.

“We are working on the system upgrade, we hope to make the announcement soon so that Unemployment claimants will benefit from these compensations just like PUA claimants,” he assured.

The additional $ 300 for PUA beneficiaries is part of the economic stimulus bill approved by the U.S. Congress for the COVID-19 pandemic.

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