Credello: Lost Your Job Due to Omicron? Here Are the Unemployment Benefits Available to You Now
NEW YORK, January 10, 2022 (Newswire.com) - A new variant of Covid is sweeping across America and workers are feeling the pain from it. Omicron may not be as "deadly" as previous strains, but it spreads twice as fast and is already forcing business closures nationwide. Americans are losing wages that they desperately need in an economy where inflation is causing consumer prices to rise to record levels.
The debt payoff allotment you set aside after using that debt repayment calculator may need to be modified. That's a topic for another day. In this article, we'll talk about unemployment benefits. It's unlikely that we'll see enhanced checks and stimulus payments this year, so it's time to look at what is available now. Those who are affected by Omicron should read this.
Don't Expect Enhanced Unemployment this Year
The White House released a statement on December 2 claiming that unemployment claims were at their "lowest level since 1969." That was before Omicron. New York City alone is reporting 7,200 new cases a day and Broadway shows are shutting down. The NFL and NBA have both postponed games and it's projected to get worse as the winter progresses.
Despite all that, don't expect enhanced unemployment this time around. States may implement it independently based on their budgets, but the federal government is spent out and Congress is divided right now. The President's "Build Back Better" bill has been stalled by moderates and it's unlikely Congress will authorize additional unemployment spending.
Partial Unemployment May be Available for Covid Losses
Unemployment rules in most states allow workers to file for unemployment benefits if they've lost hours of work due to a hardship. In other words, if you're normally working forty hours and get cut back to twenty hours because of Omicron, you may be eligible to file for benefits on those lost hours. Check your state's unemployment office for guidelines.
In most states, you need to lose at least half of your hours to qualify for partial unemployment, and the payment will be only a percentage of what you'd receive for full unemployment. There are also eligibility rules that require you to have worked a minimum number of taxable quarters before being able to file for unemployment. New hires may not be able to.
Check Your Eligibility Requirements and Benefit Year
This is where things get tricky. We're not that far removed from our last Covid outbreak that drove a lot of workers into the unemployment line. The date you filed that first claim counts as the beginning of your "benefit year," which runs for 52 weeks. Most states allow you to collect for 26 of those weeks. If you've already done that, you might not be eligible for unemployment.
If you've reached the maximum number of weeks for unemployment benefits, you will need to wait until the 52-week "benefit year" has expired before you can file a new claim. There's no way around that. If you are eligible to collect now, take advantage of the available benefits because you earned them, but go back to work when you can to preserve future eligibility.
Source: Credello
