FAQ

Eligibility for Unemployment

If you are eligible for regular unemployment: Approx 50% of your salary (In NY up to $504) plus $600, each week.

If you are ineligible for regular unemployment but you are eligible for PUA: $182 plus $600, each week.

Depends on the circumstances. Generally speaking, no. Here is the question and answer from dol.gov.

My employer has remained open because it is essential. I’m not sick, nor is anyone in my household sick. I do not have children or care for someone who cannot care for themselves. However, I’m afraid of getting coronavirus from customers coming to the store, so I quit and filed for unemployment. Can I obtain benefits under the CARES Act?

No. Under the CARES Act, you may be eligible for benefits if you meet one of the circumstances listed in the Act, but none include the scenario described. On these facts, you are not eligible for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) because you do not meet any of the qualifying circumstances.

There are, however, circumstances under the CARES Act in which specific, credible health concerns could require an individual to quit his or her job and thereby make the individual eligible for PUA. For example, an individual may be eligible for PUA if he or she was diagnosed with COVID-19 by a qualified medical professional, and although the individual no longer has COVID-19, the illness caused health complications that render the individual objectively unable to perform his or her essential job functions, with or without a reasonable accommodation. However, voluntarily deciding to quit your job out of a general concern about exposure to COVID-19 does not make you eligible for PUA. If you believe your employer’s response to the possible spread of COVID-19 creates a serious safety hazard or if you think your employer is not following OSHA standards, you can file a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

As a general matter, you are likely to be eligible for PUA due to concerns about exposure to the coronavirus only if you have been advised by a healthcare provider to self-quarantine as a result of such concerns. For instance, an individual whose immune system is compromised by virtue of a serious health condition, and who is therefore advised by a healthcare provider to self-quarantine in order to avoid the greater-than-average health risks that the individual might face if he or she were to become infected by the coronavirus will be eligible for PUA if all other eligibility requirements are met.

Source: https://www.dol.gov/coronavirus/unemployment-insurance

If you are currently employed, but your hours have been reduced and you are now working less than 4 days a week and earning less than $504 a week, you should be eligible. If one of the other PUA scenarios apply to you, for example, as primary caregiver, then you may be able to quit work and still be eligible for PUA.

I have kids. My kids are home now, all day, every day, no school in sight. They need my attention ALL. THE. TIME. My boss wants me to work anyway. I kind of wish I had been fired, because this is a tough place to be. My boss wants me to telework. You say I can claim unemployment? Aren’t I obviously employed?

Yes you can! You are eligible for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. Here is the question and answer from dol.gov.

My employer will let me work from home with pay. However, because my children are out of school and my spouse is working, I need to care for them and it is too difficult to work from home. Under Section 2102(a)(3)(A)(ii)(I)(dd) of the CARES Act, I self-certify that I need my kids to be at school in order for me to be able to work. Do I qualify for PUA?

You may qualify. The CARES Act does provide PUA to an individual who is the “primary caregiver” of a child who is at home due to a forced school closure that directly results from the COVID-19 public health emergency. However, to qualify as a primary caregiver, your provision of care to the child must require such ongoing and constant attention that it is not possible for you to perform your customary work functions at home. For example, if your employer allows you to telework and you are caring for a more mature child who is able to care for him or herself for much of the day, you likely would not qualify for PUA because you are still able to work.

In addition, you should bear in mind that the CARES Act provides PUA only when a child is home because of a school closure that is a direct result of the COVID-19 public health emergency. A school is not closed as a direct result of the COVID-19 public health emergency, for purposes of 2102(a)(3)(A)(ii)(I)(dd), after the date the school year was originally scheduled to end. That means that, once the school year is over, parents should rely on their customary summer arrangements for caring for their children, and will not, absent some other qualifying circumstances, be eligible to receive PUA. If, however, the facility that they rely on to provide summer care for the child is also closed as a direct result of the COVID-19 public health emergency, they may continue to qualify for PUA. Similarly, if there is some other reason under which they qualify for PUA, they will continue to be eligible to receive benefits.

Source: https://www.dol.gov/coronavirus/unemployment-insurance

The fact that you didn’t claim unemployment back then is irrelevant now, as the DOL only looks at employment history going back 18 months from the effective application date.

If you are the primary caregiver then you should be eligible for PUA. However, you will likely only be eligible if you had a job lined up that you now cannot do due to Covid-19. 

My son had a private babysitter and was not in school. Can I still apply for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, as the primary caregiver?

I didn’t see any clear guidance on this. Based on the guidance I have seen, I assume that you would be eligible, yes. Bottom line, your child had care before Covid-19 and now does not, due to Covid-19. I don’t see any reason to assume that a private setting, a nanny or even a grandma who was volunteering to watch your child before Covid-19 would not be sufficient. Click here to see the question answered by the NY DOL.

I was employed partially on a 1099 and partially on a W2. My workplace is now closed. What can I get?

My understanding is that you would only be eligible for regular unemployment if you had sufficient earnings on a W2. If not, then you would be eligible for PUA. Either way, you should apply. Either you will be eligible for regular UI and receive approximately 50% of your prior earnings plus $600 a week or you will be ineligible for regular UI and eligible for PUA at $182 plus $600 a week.

In 2019, I was self employed and only earned a few thousand dollars, I didn’t receive a W2 or a 1099. Am I eligible for unemployment assistance?

You are likely eligible for PUA as a self-employed person. You will likely get $182 plus $600 a week. I didn’t read any requirement for the amount of earnings being over a certain amount. In fact, I don’t see a requirement to have earned any money at all.

If someone had a job offer that was rescinded due to Covid-19, then yes, they should be eligible.

I do not see an upper age limit for applying for PUA. In order to be eligible for PUA, someone has to either have been working and lost their job due to Covid-19 or have a job offer that they cannot do due to Covid-19.

Answer: Yes, you can get both Unemployment and social security at the same time, as long as you’re eligible for Unemployment.

If someone worked for a organization that is exempt from paying unemployment insurance and as such, this person is not eligible for Unemployment Insurance, is the CARES Act helping such individuals at this time? Also, if the person is eligible, will the organization incur a financial cost for benefits that their former employee received?

My understanding is that yes, the person would be eligible for PUA. See here: https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/eta/eta20200405

If someone is getting PUA, which is 100% federally funded, as opposed to regular unemployment, which is state-funded, the employer won’r incur any costs as a result.

Unemployment is individual-based. So yes, as long as both of you are eligible, you can both claim unemployment at the same time.

Yes. Look into applying for a small business grant. Check here for more information. Read Doctor of Credit for some more info.

Help! Can You Troubleshoot My Application?

You choose your own pin when you make an account on the ny.gov website. Keep your pin somewhere safe – you might need it.

The DOL combined two applications into one: regular UI (Unemployment Insurance) and PUA (Pandemic Unemployment Assistance). The goal is that people should only have to complete one application and the system then automatically decides for which system you are eligible. The result is that some of the questions may sound a bit confusing. Just bear with it. If you find a question confusing, read the rest of the Q&A, as maybe your confusion was answered. If you are still stuck, contact us.

Why did you leave work? If you left on your own, due to Covid-19 (primary caregiver etc), then I imagine writing that you quit would be correct, as further along you can write the reason due to childcare.

Many people are in the same situation. Just make sure you certify your weeks in the meantime.

Some thoughts: The application form determines whether you will be approved for regular UI or PUA, so if you answer some questions that seem to make you eligible for “regular” while other questions not, that may push the application to “pending” mode and put into a line for manual review. As long as at the end you are deemed eligible, you should receive all the back-pay from the date you stopped working.

Does that mean that I am not going to get paid for those weeks?

Click here to read the “After You Apply” page for more information about this.

The weeks from your last day of employment until the date you applied should already be considered certified in the DOL system. For the weeks after your application date, you are meant to certify every week. Many people are having trouble certifying their weeks, both online and by phone. If you are having trouble certifying, my recommendation is to keep screenshots of your error messages just in case you need it.

So many people have this issue that the DOL announced via Twitter that they will be rolling out a new website to certify any missing weeks. So look out for an email from the DOL.

I just applied for unemployment, but I was out of a job since the beginning of the pandemic. Will I automatically get back-paid?

As long as you entered your last day of employment into the application, you should get back pay from the date of unemployment. That “should” all happen automatically.

Guidance from NY DOL first advised people to write ‘1’. On May 8th they tweeted that self-employed people should write ‘0’. I have heard from people who entered “1” and had their application approved. Hopefully they will come out with a clarification which won’t cause even further confusion.

Up to you, or your accountant :). Unemployment is taxable income. Either they withhold now or you deal with it when you file your 2020 taxes.

See this post for more about withholding taxes.

Stimulus / EIP

For information about the Stimulus/EIP ($1,200 per filer and $500 per dependent) see HomeUnemployed.com/Stimulus

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