For more than two weeks now during the government shutdown, Imelda Avila-Thomas has been trying in vain to get approved for unemployment compensation to help cover essentials such as food and mortgage payments for her family while she’s on unpaid furlough from her federal government job.
She kept asking questions and was ultimately sent a hyperlink to upload proof-of-income documents, which she did earlier this week. But Avila-Thomas, who works for the Department of Labor in San Antonio, said the system still deems her ineligible for benefits, saying it cannot verify her wages. She wonders whether someone who might help her has also been furloughed.
A mother of a 12-year-old daughter and local union leader, Avila-Thomas is among the thousands of furloughed federal workers trying to navigate the unemployment system . . . .
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Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees relies heavily on state laws and processing.
The specifics vary. Massachusetts has a high-end weekly benefit of $1,105 per week for up to 30 weeks. In Mississippi, it’s no more than $235 weekly for up to 26 weeks. Roughly half the states pay less than $600 a week maximum, according to U.S. Department of Labor numbers.
Not everyone gets the maximum weekly rate. Some states offer fewer than 20 weeks. And the limits can grow in some states when unemployment rates are particularly high.
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States normally issue payments within two to three weeks after someone’s claim is approved, the Labor Department says. And most states also have an initial “waiting week” for which benefits are not paid upfront. Beneficiaries typically receive money for that week only later, if they exhaust all the weeks they’re allotted, the National Employment Law Project says.
States are responsible for verifying an applicant’s job and earnings with their federal employer. But the Department of Labor has warned that the shutdown may delay processing of this information by federal agencies.
Many workers have not received forms normally sent by their employing agencies that are used to verify employment and earnings, according to the National Employment Law Project.
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Read the full story at apnews.com.
