Financial help coming for self employed workers
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Being your own boss may have it's advantages, but getting unemployment funding during the coronavirus pandemic has not been one of them. That should change next week when a new program designed to help the self employed is set to begin taking applications for emergency funding.
The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program (PUA) is designed to help business owners, the self-employed, independent contractors and others not usually eligible for state unemployment benefits to weather the economic hit dealt by COVID-19.
PUA will offer up to 39 weeks of benefits dating back as far as February 2 and lasting until the end of the year depending on when workers became impacted. Benefit payments are $167 per week with an additional $600 per week for each week a person is unemployed from March 29 to July 25.
The Employment Development Department will begin accepting online applications on Tuesday, April 28. More information on the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program can be found here: https://edd.ca.gov/about_edd/coronavirus-2019/pandemic-unemployment-assistance.htm
About 4.4 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week alone. More than 26 million workers across the country have lost their jobs in the last five weeks since businesses began shutting down due to the coronavirus.
State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson says the California Employment Development Department typically had 2500 claims a month before the pandemic began to take effect. She says since March 1st they've had over 2.5 million claims, which has led to long waits and frustration for many.
"Obviously they were not prepared for this surge in unemployment claims," Jackson said. "What they have done is they have tried to ramp up as quickly as possible. They've hired hundreds of people. They have redirected hundreds of state employees and trained them to handle claims."
Jackson expects it won't take long for people to receive money once they are approved for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.
"These funds will be available within 24-48 hours after these claims are approved," Jackson said. "They aren't going to have to wait weeks to get those funds sent to them and they are retroactive to February 2nd, or when they started losing income."
Jackson asks people to try to be patient during the application process. If people are having problems after trying to apply online they can contact her office through https://sd19.senate.ca.gov/.
