FLORIDA, USA — The large unemployment rate increase in March has triggered a program known as Extended Benefits and it will be available to many unemployed Floridians who qualify.
“Extended benefits gets triggered when the unemployment rate rises about five percent for a certain period of time,” said unemployment expert Vanessa Brito.
Those who never qualified for state benefits won’t be eligible.
“You have to had exhausted PEUC between June 7 and Nov. 7 to qualify for extended benefits,” Brito said.
Those who exhaust state unemployment benefits in 12 weeks are transferred to the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program for 13 weeks.
Extended Benefits allows up to six weeks in unemployment benefits after exhausting PEUC once it is enacted.
Currently, people who exhaust both state and PEUC benefits move onto the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program.
This chart released by the Department Of Economic Opportunity shows Extended Benefits are supposed to be used before PUA.
Brito said that means those who qualify for Extended Benefits will be forced to switch to the Extended Benefits program when it is enacted.
“You will be prompted to apply for extended benefits,” Brito said. “And unless you apply, you probably won’t be eligible to request benefits.”
Although this seems like a lot of trouble to be receiving the same amount of unemployment benefits, those who qualify for Extended Benefits are better off come 2021.
“Extended benefits is not part of the CARES Act program,” Brito said.
Unemployment benefits under the CARES Act expire Dec. 26, Brito said. So unlike CARES Act programs, Extended Benefits will continue into 2021.
The DEO hasn’t announced when Extended Benefits will be enacted, but said it will be sometime in December.
“December is four weeks. So you will also get like two to three weeks in January depending on when the program is actually available,” Brito said.