NEVADA (KTNV) — The unemployment rate in Las Vegas remains the highest in the nation among big metropolitan areas, but there is some good news coming from the state's unemployment office.
As of this week, Nevada is one of a handful of states that have started sending out the new $300 weekly boost to unemployment benefits.
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The Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation says the first week that people could file for the federally funded benefit was the week ending Jan. 2. Qualified claimants started receiving the additional $300 payments this week.
The increase in jobless benefits is part of the $900 billion COVID relief package signed into law last month.
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The stipend is available for up to 11 weeks to workers unemployed between Dec. 26 and March 14.
Those eligible include workers who exhausted their standard allotment of state aid and the self-employed and other workers who don't qualify for state benefits.
Here is more information from DETR:
Some programming to implement HB 133, the Continued Assistance Act, has been completed on the UI program. For existing UI claimants:
- Any claimant who was on Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) will continue to be on PEUC and their eligible weeks were automatically extended in accordance with the new federal law.
- Any claimant who had a balance on their PEUC extension as of 12/26/20 but had already filed a State Extended Benefits (SEB) claim early, will be automatically placed back on PEUC in order to capture the additional weeks.
- Any claimant who had exhausted PEUC prior to 12/26/20 and went on SEB will stay on SEB. At the end of SEB, the claimant will be placed back on PEUC up to the expiration of the program.
As soon as all additional guidance is provided by the Department of Labor, programming will be updated for all the programs. Depending on the complexity of the guidance, it is anticipated that these changes should be implemented within four weeks. Among the changes will be:
"We have to wait until the Department of Labor issues the rules before we can implement many of the changes in the new law. We were able to put in the changes needed so that most claimants will start receiving the extra $300 a week right away. We know Nevadans need help. I'm so proud of the dedicated staff at DETR who worked over the holidays so Nevada could be one of the first states in the county to implement this added benefit,” said Elisa Cafferata, Director of the Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation.
Some programming to implement HB 133, the Continued Assistance Act, has been completed on the UI program. For existing UI claimants:
- Any claimant who was on Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) will continue to be on PEUC and their eligible weeks were automatically extended in accordance with the new federal law.
- Any claimant who had a balance on their PEUC extension as of 12/26/20 but had already filed a State Extended Benefits (SEB) claim early, will be automatically placed back on PEUC in order to capture the additional weeks.
- Any claimant who had exhausted PEUC prior to 12/26/20 and went on SEB will stay on SEB. At the end of SEB, the claimant will be placed back on PEUC up to the expiration of the program.
As soon as all additional guidance is provided by the Department of Labor, programming will be updated for all the programs. Depending on the complexity of the guidance, it is anticipated that these changes should be implemented within four weeks. Among the changes will be:
For existing PUA claimants:
- All claim benefit balances will be updated.
- For those without additional weeks right now (whose claim is exhausted), claims will be reopened with additional weeks and the supplemental $300 added. There is no need to take action now. Do not open a new claim.
- For anyone with a quarter change as of 1/1/21, the quarter change will not stop payment.
- If someone was previously disqualified from PUA, the claimant is still disqualified for the new benefit period. If the claim has an appeal pending, and is determined to be eligible, the claimant will receive all benefits for all eligible weeks.
For new PUA claimants:
- New claims will be accepted. Per federal law, no new claims will be permitted to receive payments prior to December 6, 2020.
- Due to additional requirements for new PUA filers, DETR must update the PUA application programming before new PUA claims can be filed.
Important things to note:
- Existing UI and PUA claimants should continue to file their weekly claims.
- Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), the extra $300 benefit, ends on the week ending 3/13/21. Anyone eligible for the supplemental benefit who does not receive it immediately because of the delay in restarting the programs will receive it when their claim is processed.
- Any unprocessed claims in the backlog will receive retroactive benefits if found eligible.
- If a claimant has unexpired benefits after 3/13/21 for PUA or PEUC, the claimant may continue receiving benefits through 4/10/21 with the exception of FPUC which stops on 3/13/21.
- Eligible claimants who file their weekly claims will receive the additional weeks and the weekly FPUC $300 automatically and should avoid calling the call center if at all possible to inquire about these benefits.
Summary of New Extensions under the new law:
For UI Claimants: Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) provides up to 11 additional weeks of federally funded benefits to workers who have exhausted their regular state unemployment UI benefits. The PEUC benefit weeks an individual may claim increased from 13 to 24 weeks through the week ending March 13, 2021. PEUC is not available to PUA claimants.
For PUA Claimants: Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) provides continued unemployment assistance to the self-employed, freelancers, gig workers, part-time workers and other individuals in non-traditional employment. Claimants can file for PUA benefits for a maximum of 50 weeks. Due to Nevada’s high average insured unemployment rate, the state is currently able to offer an additional 7 weeks of benefits, bringing the total benefit weeks to 57 weeks. No new PUA applications will be accepted after March 13, 2021.
For Both UI and PUA Claimants: Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) provides eligible claimants an additional $300 per week to supplement all state and federal unemployment benefits (UI, PUA, PEUC, SEB), starting December 27, 2020 through week ending March 13, 2021.
