SACRAMENTO, Calif — Some good news for people who are getting Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) in California. The Employment Development Department has updated its timeline to implement the new federal unemployment extension that was passed as part of the American Rescue Plan.
EDD now says everyone who gets PUA payments will be able to certify by Sunday, March 28. This includes both the extended benefits and the additional $300 boost.
Earlier this week, EDD had said about 60,000 PUA recipients would need to wait until April 10 to certify. These were people who had exhausted all PUA benefits. EDD said in a call that they were able to finish the programming early and everyone should be able to certify this week.
Claimants will receive payment for any missed weeks, including the extra $300.
Another group of people, who exhausted all their PEUC benefits, will still need to wait on EDD to finish programming. This delay affects about 742,000 people. EDD said it plans to phase this group into the new extension between April 10 and April 30.
Here is more information about each of the benefit programs and the timeline for payments:
Regular UI & FED-ED
People who receive regular state Unemployment Insurance (UI) or Federal-State Extended Duration (FED-ED) will not see any changes. People in this group should receive their weekly payments and the extra $300 without interruption.
PEUC
A majority of people who get Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) will have a gap in payments.
EDD said 47% of people on PEUC will be able to continue collecting their benefits, plus the extra $300, without any delays. For the other 53% of people, who have exhausted all PEUC extension benefits, EDD plans to phase them into the new extension between April 10 and April 30.
There are currently 1.4 million people in California who get PEUC benefits. Based on the EDD estimate, about 742,000 people will see a gap in their payments. Once this group is able to certify, they will receive payment for any missed weeks, including the extra $300.
PUA
EDD now says that everyone on Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) will be able to certify and receive payments, along with the $300 boost by Sunday, March 28.
Some people may have not been able to certify for benefits last week while EDD was doing some programming to implement the new federal extension. Starting Sunday, claimants will be able to certify for those missed weeks and receive payment, including the extra $300.
New PUA Claims
Any new PUA claims that are filed before April 10 will be paid at the minimum level of $167 per week, plus the $300 federal boost.
After April 10, claimants may be eligible to receive a higher weekly benefit amount based on their income information. Any difference will be applied retroactively.
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End of benefit year
The rollout of the new federal benefits extension is coming at a time many people on regular UI are hitting the end of their benefit year, or 12 months since they first filed their claim.
Those who are reaching the end of their 12-month unemployment benefits claim should expect to be contacted by the EDD either through their online account or by mail.
Once people reach the end of their benefit year they must reapply for another claim if they are still not employed. EDD will check if they are qualified for a new regular state UI claim or connect them to any federal benefits that they may qualify to receive.
