COLUMBUS, Ohio — Leaders with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) announced Monday that up to 20 weeks of additional unemployment benefits are now available in the state due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The benefits are for residents who exhaust both the maximum 26 weeks of regular unemployment benefits and 13 weeks of Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation.
Job and Family Services representatives said they will soon begin notifying people who may qualify for this additional assistance to instruct them how to apply. The additional weeks are possible because Ohio’s insured unemployment rate exceeded a minimum threshold. The insured unemployment rate is a measure of the number of people receiving unemployment benefits as a percentage of the labor force.
“We will soon begin notifying individuals who may qualify for this additional assistance to instruct them how to apply,” ODJFS Director Kimberly Hall said. “Although high unemployment rates are never welcome news, we are happy that we can offer this extra support for Ohioans who are unemployed through no fault of their own and who are having difficulty finding work.”
The federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was signed into law on March 27, created three new unemployment programs:
- Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), providing up to 39 weeks of benefits to many who historically have not qualified for unemployment benefits, such as self-employed workers, 1099 tax filers, part-time workers and those who lack sufficient work history.
- Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), providing an additional $600 per week through July 25 to existing benefit amounts for those in multiple programs, including regular unemployment benefits, PUA, Trade benefits and SharedWork Ohio benefits.
- Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), providing up to 13 weeks of additional benefits for Ohioans who exhaust their maximum 26 weeks of regular unemployment benefits on or after July 1, 2019. This program is available through Dec. 26, 2020.
Individuals who exhaust their regular unemployment benefits are potentially eligible for PEUC. If they exhaust PEUC, they are potentially eligible for EB. If they exhaust all three programs, they are potentially eligible for PUA. No additional extended benefits are available to those who exhaust PUA, which will be in effect through Dec. 26, 2020.
For more information, click here.
