DOL Issues New Guidance on Unemployment Expansion The U.S. Department of Labor has issued fresh guidance to states grappling with a recent federal unemployment supplement that extended emergency jobless benefits to “gig” workers and others who are out of work due to pandemic, but cannot collect under existing laws. Employment and Training Administration head John Pallasch’s Monday letter to state unemployment administrators summarizes the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and includes a lengthy questions and answers section explaining who is eligible, how states should process claims, how much workers can collect and other facets of the program. For example, a worker who previously exhausted their benefits and has not earned enough money to re-establish them can collect if they cannot work because of the pandemic, while workers who have lost their jobs and refuse employers’ calls to return to work cannot, Pallasch stated. Monday guidance is the latest in a series of unemployment insurance program letter the ETA has sent states to help them respond to an unprecedented surge in benefits claims during the pandemic. The agency has issued some guidance on existing law, but has mostly focused on the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and the Economic Security Act, which created the PUA and made other changes to bolster the unemployment system. Unemployment benefits are generally only available to workers who are classified as “employees” for payroll purposes and have earned a certain amount of money over a certain period of time, with the specifics varying by state. The UPA extends benefits to independent contractors, the self-employed and others who could not otherwise collect, though workers and states alike have struggled to grasp its mechanics. The new guidance answers dozens of questions DOL officials fielded in an April 8 webinar with the state unemployment administrators, dividing them into several categories. A little over a third of question concerns PUA eligibility. Among other thing, Pallasch said workers who do not qualify for regular benefits because they have taken unpaid medical leave may be able to collect if they took leave for a reasons related to the virus, as can workers who cannot work because they are the primary caregiver of a child whose school has closed. But those workers cannot keep collecting after the school year ends “absent some other qualifying circumstances,” Pallasch stated. A section discussing how to administer claims directs states to review denials dating back to the PUA’s January 27th, retroactive effective date to identify workers who may be eligible under the new law. If states identify newly eligible workers, they must alert them and
explain how to file a new claim. The guidance tackles several other questions, including whether states can convert claims ineligible workers filed under regular laws to PUA claims, and how to handle claims for workers who live in one state but are self-employed in another. Workers eligible for PUA assistance can collect a minimum weekly benefit based around their states average pay-out under existing laws, though they can get more depending on their earnings. Tuesday’s letter directs states to provide workers who cannot prove their earnings at least the minimum, among other guidance.