After much partisan wrangling blocked it for weeks, the Senate finally passed legislation that restores previously-authorized extended unemployment benefits. As expected, the House quickly followed suit and President Obama wasted no time in signing the new legislation into law.
Editor’s Note: EmployeeIssues has updated this post as more information became available. The last significant update was on July 26, 2010.
The eligibility expiration date for the last round of restored extended unemployment benefits was June 2, 2010. The new law, called the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2010 or simply the Extension Act of 2010, again restores benefits by amending the eligibility expiration date to November 30, 2010.
States will issue “back pay” to unemployed workers who, thanks to the Extension Act of 2010, became retroactively eligible for extended unemployment compensation between June 3 and July 22. Unemployed workers who became eligible on or before June 2 will continue collecting extended unemployment compensation for as long as they are entitled, as will those who become eligible through November 30.
Eligible unemployed workers may collect up to 99 weeks of standard and extended unemployment benefits (26+73 weeks), depending on state unemployment rates. Those in states with a 3-month average unemployment rate of 8.5 percent or higher will receive the most weeks beyond the standard 26. The U.S. Department of Labor recalculates the state unemployment-rate triggers weekly.
The Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2010 immediately became effective after the president signed it. However, it might take up to a month before state unemployment offices start sending checks to those of you who became retroactively eligible for extended unemployment benefits thanks to the new law. It will take time to distribute the federal funds and then for unemployment offices to eliminate backlogs.
A provision in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“stimulus”) that granted an extra $25 in weekly unemployment compensation was not carried forward in the Extension Act for new applicants, due to Republican filibustering forcing Democrats to compromise on cost. Likewise, the Act also does not provide for a fourth extension of the stimulus-authorized COBRA subsidy.
Struggling unemployed workers referred to as “99ers” because they’ve exhausted all 99 weeks of extended unemployment benefits, were hoping that congress would add more weeks in a tier 5. Sadly, tier 5 didn’t happen for the 99ers; but, at least tiers 1-4 survived the cost-cutting tactics to continue in helping others.
About Extended Unemployment Benefits
To become eligible for extended unemployment benefits (Emergency Unemployment Compensation or EUC), unemployed workers must first exhaust standard state unemployment benefits that typically last for 26 weeks. To become eligible for further extensions, if available in their work states, unemployed workers must first exhaust previous levels (“tiers”) of extended unemployment benefits in numerical sequence. Other eligibility requirements apply.
If and when the time comes that you might be eligible for extended unemployment benefits or a further extension in the next tier number up, then the state unemployment office is required to notify you. Even though notified, you still might have to confirm your eligibility by filing a claim or by simply continuing to submit the required reports, such as your job-searching activity. The rules vary by state.
To file a claim, follow the instructions provided by the unemployment office. If you did not receive specific instructions, then contact the nearest state unemployment office or full-service One-Stop Career Center to file your claim, or file it electronically over the Internet. Most state unemployment office Web sites have online facilities for filing claims over the Internet and many encourage the method to speed up processing.
Your weekly compensation amount for extended unemployment benefits will be the same as it was for your standard state unemployment benefits. Compensation varies by state and eligibility.
Did you know? If your employer denies you unemployment benefits for misconduct (or for any other reason), then your employee rights entitle you to appeal the denial.
