The application for unemployment insurance benefits for self-employed, independent contractors, and gig economy workers is now available. These benefits are being offered through the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program.
Workers who became unemployed, had hours reduced, or had an inability to work as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic may qualify for this unemployment assistance.
People who may qualify for PUA include individuals not eligible for regular unemployment benefits:
• the self-employed;
• independent contractors;
• gig economy workers;
• church employees;
• individuals who were previously found monetarily ineligible;
• nonprofit and governmental workers; and
• workers who have exhausted regular unemployment compensation benefits
Applying for PUA is a two-step process that individuals can begin immediately.
Step 1: Individuals will first need to file a regular Unemployment Insurance claim to determine if their income is covered by the regular state Unemployment Insurance (UI) program. If deemed ineligible, they will be cleared to apply for PUA benefits.
Step 2: Once a claimant is deemed ineligible for regular benefits, they will be provided access to apply for PUA benefits through an application link, “Apply for PUA Benefits,” that will appear on their Unemployment Insurance Tax & Claims System homepage. This application will become available on Sunday, April 26.
Self-employed, independent contractors, and gig economy workers who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, are encouraged to begin filing claims online at www.jobs.state.nm.us.
This article was gathered automatically by our news bot. We help YouTubers by driving traffic to them for free. The featured image in this article is the thumbnail of the embedded video.
