$300 jobless benefits coming – then going away
Days before unemployed Pennsylvanians should start receiving Lost Wages Assistance payments, word came down that the program has been terminated.
State Labor & Industry secretary Jerry Oleksiak announced late Thursday afternoon that the federal program ended last Saturday.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, administrator of the funds, alerted state officials about the decision.
Residents who are unemployed because of the pandemic, and deemed eligible for the weekly $300 LWA benefit, will be paid, however – for up to five weeks.
Eligible claimants must apply for the payments, but were allowed to start applying only last Sunday. Recipients will receive benefits retroactively, from the week beginning Aug. 1 through the week ending Sept. 5. Payment will be in a lump sum, and some applicants may get pay as early as Monday.
None of the other jobless benefits programs in Pennsylvania are affected by this decision.
“We will continue making (LWA) payments until the funding we’ve already received from FEMA for this program is depleted,” Oleksiak said in a news release. “I urge anyone who is partially or fully unemployed because of COVID-19, and hasn’t yet applied for LWA benefits, to do so right away.”
Pennsylvania got $2.4 billion of the $44 billion that were available in the Lost Wages Assistance program. The state initially received $1.5 billion.
The $300 per week, temporarily, will replace the weekly $600 payment claimants were receiving from the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program, which ended in late July. Oleksiak has said numerous times that he and Gov. Tom Wolf hope the federal government can restore the $600 weekly payments.
To be eligible for LWA, claimants must have a benefit rate and dependence allowance totaling $100 or more per week in benefits from one of these programs: Regular Unemployment Compensation; Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation; Pandemic Unemployment Assistance; Pennsylvania Extended Benefits; Shared Work or Short-Time Compensation; Trade Readjustment Allowance.
Recipients of benefits from these programs, except for PUA and Shared Work, must apply for LWA by certifying one time that their unemployment or partial unemployment is due to COVID-19. Visit www.uc.pa.gov/cert, log in with your PIN as if filing for a biweekly claim, select the “Complete LWA Certification” button and fill it out.
The U.S. Labor Department released its weekly report Thursday, showing that 884,000 across the country filed for new unemployment benefits for the week ending Sept. 5. That was a similar figure to the previous week.
The national unemployment rate, according to the report, is 9.2%, up for 8.4% for August.{/div}
For updates on the LWA program, visit www.uc.pa.gov or follow L&I on Facebook or Twitter.
In an unrelated matter, Oleksiak announced Friday that L&I will provide up to $4 million in Direct Care Worker Training Grants across the state. The funding is intended to enhance the quality of care these workers provide, while enabling them the opportunity for career advancement and to earn family-sustaining wages.
“Direct care workers assist and support patients who are not able to look after themselves in long-term care facilities like nursing homes,” Oleksiak said.
“The majority of these jobs – nearly 90% – are filled by women who earn relatively low wages and receive limited health benefits. The Direct Care Worker Training Grants benefit our loved ones who need this type of assistance, and the workers who care for them.”
Grant awardees should be notified by the end of November. Oct. 2 is the application deadline.
For more information, visit dli.pa.gov.