How to file for federal unemployment

The CARES Act allows states to provide maximum flexibility to reimbursing employers as it relates to timely payments in lieu of contributions and assessment of penalties and interest. The U. Department of Labor will soon be issuing guidance on how states should implement this provision. Each state sets its own unemployment insurance benefits eligibility guidelines, but you usually qualify if you:.

Under the CARES Act, you may be eligible for benefits if you meet one of the circumstances listed in the Act, but none include the scenario described. On these facts, you are not eligible for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance PUA because you do not meet any of the qualifying circumstances. There are, however, circumstances under the CARES Act in which specific, credible health concerns could require an individual to quit his or her job and thereby make the individual eligible for PUA.

For example, an individual may be eligible for PUA if he or she was diagnosed with COVID by a qualified medical professional, and although the individual no longer has COVID, the illness caused health complications that render the individual objectively unable to perform his or her essential job functions, with or without a reasonable accommodation.

As a general matter, you are likely to be eligible for PUA due to concerns about exposure to the coronavirus only if you have been advised by a healthcare provider to self-quarantine as a result of such concerns. For instance, an individual whose immune system is compromised by virtue of a serious health condition, and who is therefore advised by a healthcare provider to self-quarantine in order to avoid the greater-than-average health risks that the individual might face if he or she were to become infected by the coronavirus will be eligible for PUA if all other eligibility requirements are met.

You may qualify. However, to qualify as a primary caregiver, your provision of care to the child must require such ongoing and constant attention that it is not possible for you to perform your customary work functions at home. For example, if your employer allows you to telework and you are caring for a more mature child who is able to care for him or herself for much of the day, you likely would not qualify for PUA because you are still able to work.

A school is not closed as a direct result of the COVID public health emergency, for purposes of a 3 A ii I dd , after the date the school year was originally scheduled to end. That means that, once the school year is over, parents should rely on their customary summer arrangements for caring for their children, and will not, absent some other qualifying circumstances, be eligible to receive PUA. If, however, the facility that they rely on to provide summer care for the child is also closed as a direct result of the COVID public health emergency, they may continue to qualify for PUA.

Similarly, if there is some other reason under which they qualify for PUA, they will continue to be eligible to receive benefits.

You may be eligible for PUA, depending on your personal circumstances. A gig economy worker, such as a driver for a ride-sharing service, is eligible for PUA provided that he or she is unemployed, partially employed, or unable or unavailable to work for one or more of the qualifying reasons provided for by the CARES Act. For example, a driver for a ride-sharing service may be forced to quit his or her job if he or she was diagnosed with COVID by a qualified medical professional, and although the driver no longer has COVID, the illness caused health complications that render the driver objectively unable to perform his or her essential job functions, with or without a reasonable accommodation.

Similarly, under an additional eligibility criterion established by the Secretary of Labor pursuant to a 3 A ii I kk , a driver who receives an IRS Form from the ride-sharing service may qualify for PUA benefits if he or she has been forced to suspend operations as a direct result of the COVID public health emergency, such as if an emergency state or municipal order restricting movement makes continued operations unsustainable. As a general matter, individuals receiving regular unemployment compensation must act upon any referral to suitable employment and must accept any offer of suitable employment.

Barring unusual circumstances, a request that a furloughed employee return to his or her job very likely constitutes an offer of suitable employment that the employee must accept.

The first 13 weeks were available from March 29, to September 4, The coronavirus changed this a bit. The American Rescue Plan, enacted on March 11, , excludes a certain amount in unemployment benefits from taxes. It takes at least three weeks to process a claim for unemployment benefits and issue payment to most eligible workers. When your first benefit payment is available, you will receive a debit card in the mail. An ECN is a 9-digit number beginning with or Federal civilian employees work directly for a federal agency , such as the Social Security Administration.

The military employs civilians for non-combat work, and they are also considered federal civilian employees.

If you are not able to provide proof of income, we will not increase your payments. Who pays for unemployment insurance? Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation FPUC is an emergency program designed to increase unemployment benefits for millions of Americans affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Predicted long-term to be one of the harshest unemployment situations since the Great Depression , the U. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the unemployment rate at 6. Millions of out-of-work Americans depended on unemployment insurance UI to help cover their housing costs, groceries, and other expenses. FPUC was a flat amount given to people who received unemployment insurance, including those with a partial unemployment benefit check.

But the benefit then expired on Sept. The deadline also applied to people who received benefits under the new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance PUA program, which covered freelancers, independent contractors, and gig workers, and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation PEUC program, which extended 24 additional weeks of UI to people who had exhausted their benefits.

Again, as of the week of Sept. However, if you have questions or want to check the status of your unemployment benefits, check with your state's unemployment office. The U. Department of Labor lists the contact information for all fifty states' labor offices on its website. Here is how they compared:. If you have questions, check with your state's unemployment office to determine the duration of your benefits. Federal law allows considerable flexibility for states to amend their laws to provide unemployment insurance benefits in several COVIDrelated situations.

States can, for example, pay benefits when:. It is no longer possible to apply for FPUC as of September , and the information below is no longer valid if you are seeking unemployment. To apply for Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, you must file a claim for regular benefits with the UI program in the state where you worked. Depending on the state, you can file a claim in person, online, or over the phone; most states recommend filing online.

When you file a claim, you must provide your Social Security number, contact information, and details about your former employment. To find out the rules in your state, check with your state's unemployment insurance program. When states provide the extra payment, eligible people will receive retroactive payments.

Am I Eligible? Each state sets its own unemployment insurance benefits eligibility guidelines, but you usually qualify if you: Are unemployed through no fault of your own. In most states, this means you have to have separated from your last job due to a lack of available work. Meet work and wage requirements. Meet any additional state requirements. How Do I Apply? You should contact your state's unemployment insurance program as soon as possible after becoming unemployed.

Generally, you should file your claim with the state where you worked. If you worked in a state other than the one where you now live or if you worked in multiple states, the state unemployment insurance agency where you now live can provide information about how to file your claim with other states. When you file a claim, you will be asked for certain information, such as addresses and dates of your former employment. To make sure your claim is not delayed, be sure to give complete and correct information.