Last week. But that number in perspective for us. How does that compare to the worst weeks of the Great Recession . Guest it dwarfs the worst weeks of the Great Recession. It dwarfs the 3 million that came before which completely dwarfs the number in 1982. The week before was 3. 3 million and in 1982i believe the number was around 680,000. The Great Recession never reached any of those numbers. Host what are the projections for this coming week . Guest i cannot tell you that for sure. I hesitate to guess. Thatssible that get it could be higher because a lot of people have been trying to get through and have not gotten their claim approved and they are layoffs all over the united states. Host of that number, do we know how many are layoffs and people not having a job anymore versus furloughing and the fact that there will be a job promise on the other side . Guest from an insurance system perspective, a furloughing and they layoffs are pretty much identical as long as your boss tells you you cannot come into work and we are not going to pay you. It appears as unemployed. Trying to figure out the difference between furloughed wouldid off permanently just be a speculation on my part. Host folks who have been furloughed or laid off, give us a call. You want to hear your stories. Is that number. All others can call in at 202 7488001 during this segment. Michele evermore with us. Take us through what is available for the folks who may find himself in that position of furloughed or laid off through the cares act that was just past. Try toworkers should apply for regular Unemployment Insurance. A number of people do not believe they are eligible for regular Unemployment Insurance. Often they are mistaken about that. What the cares act does is to workers who do apply for insurance but might not be eligible because they are selfemployed or independent contractors or misclassified as independent contractors in that state, they should be entitled to a benefit. That is relatively similar to the regular uninsurance benefit. Anybody getting regularic benefit or a insurance benefit should be eligible for an extra 600 per week through the end of july. On top of that, there is a pandemic on emergency compensation provision that expands benefit eligibility for an additional 14 weeks in every state. Host all of these things are available to anyone who has lost their jobs amid this . Guest yes, somehow between those programs, most workers should be covered who lost their jobs because of covid19. One other provision in this legislation that i really want to highlight is an incentive for employers to adopt shortterm compensation. What that means is instead of laying off certain individuals when ours need to be cut, employees could employers could spread that cut across the workers so instead of reducing the workforce by 50 , they could reduce hours by 50 in each of those workers could get a benefit for the loss of hours plus the additional six dollars per week of pandemic on employment compensation and these benefits would be fully thatally funded in states already have programs in place or partially funded. Host walk us through the application process and do you need to apply for each of these separately. Guest hopefully some of the streamlining is clear from the guidance that came out sunday night. Hopefully workers should be able to submit one application through their employment insurance website. The simplest way to apply is by going to your states unemployment up site and following the instructions. It might be the case that if you are not eligible for regular Unemployment Insurance and you know that and you are attempting to apply for pandemic insurance because you are self employed or an independent contractor, that you should wait until program is up and running in your state and keep an eye on whatever your state is telling you to do in terms of your application. States on their website make it clear whatever documentation that they require for this. A 1099,y i keep on hand any information that you have about how you get paid, have that ready for the agency. Pay stubs for those who are regular w2 employees. Also be ready with your Social Security number, your last 18 months of earnings plus the names of all of the employers that you work for in the last 18 months. Finally, once you start signing up for benefits, the most important thing you can do is not lose your password. A lot of people are having trouble. One of the number one complaints is people will lose their password and not be able to get it reset except through either a phone call or by mail. Keep your password once you rt to apply for your example, this is the virginia unappointed commission. Why is this one through the states, why isnt there one federal agency that everyone can just go to and do the applications there . Guest this goes back to 1935 when the law was established. There is a lot of debate going back and forth about whether they should be a state program or a federal program. A compromised wedge was reached that this was a federal program with some guidelines but broad state options to set ,enefits and duration qualification, tax level. All of that is set by the state. Host what are some reasons that somebody could be denied from their claim . Guest if it was determined that they quit without good cause, if it was determined that they were fired for misconduct. Those are the two main reasons that people will not qualify in this time period. Host i want to give you a chance to talk to folks around the country especially those who may have become recently unemployed. Hat phone line, 202 7488000 mike is on that line from maryland. What kind of work were you doing and when did you lose your job . 2018r i lost my job in i said there were flaws and that was a problem. There are lies going on in this world. Personallyknow her and she is great. We need to change the system misapplied. As been it has not been designed correctly. Evermore on the design of the system and ways to make the system better. Guest that is a key point right there. One thing that is not included in any of the packages that have passed for stimulus is underlying Unemployment Insurance reform. Unemployment insurance is very different in every state and in some states people are receiving record low benefits. It is very difficult for people to access benefits. Last year for example in florida and north carolina, fewer than 10 of people in certain quarters who were unemployed were actually getting an on assignment unappointed benefit. That is going to change because more people will be allowed to apply and receive benefits. But we do need underlying reform. What is going to happen is states will spend the money in their trust fund and at the end of this economic downturn, there will be weight pressure to reduce benefits as we saw after the last recession as states trust funds ran out. Host how soon did that happen after the Great Recession . When did the effort to reduce benefits kick in . 2011. The first was in 2011were passed between and 2015 to modify state unappointed insurance laws. Massive reforms were still taking place as late as last summer when alabama reduced their duration and benefits. Evermore, Senior Analyst with the National Employment law project. About have questions applying for benefits, 202 7488000 if you are recently unemployed. 202 7488001 for all others. Out of louisiana, this is vincent on the line. What kind of work did you do . Theer i was a waiter at casino. I have a question. We apply for unemployment. Our casino does not match our funds. I did not know what they are talking about where they are matching what we were making total. There is no such thing. , that does not count in louisiana at all. I am trying to wonder why they are getting all of these funds where they are telling us that they are sending it to us and we are not making what we were before. 140e most, we are making where i was making 500 out 500 per week with my tips and with my wage. Guest thank you for raising this. Tois difficult for employees prove what their tip income was. You have to file claiming what your tips were an order for that account in establishing your benefit. Tips workers do have a real challenge in establishing eligibility. Who are news is those undernetarily eligible the regular unemployment tourance program may be able establish eligibility under the new program. The other thing is the 600 and all of the new provisions have not kicked in yet. They had to wait for guidance to come down and it is still going to take some time for states to reprogram their computers. Remember, we are talking about 3 million additional benefits two weeks ago and 6 million additional claims last week. States are having to process claims at record levels. Record levels of administered funding and having to reprogram computers all at once. It may take a little while for provisions to kick in and for you to start receiving additional 600. Host which states are doing it well and which are not . Guest most states are working very hard to make sure workers get these benefits. None of limit agencies do generally unemployment agencies care about serving the unemployed. I would say that i have heard of new york state and michigan and Washington State doing really heroic things to get benefits out the door. I think also every state realized there was likely to be a recession soon so they had all been planning to staff up quickly, just not this quickly. Nobody could have anticipated what has happened recently. I would say that there are states where there are some problems. I would highlight florida which has gotten a lot of press in the last week for having insufficient computer systems. A complaint was filed with the department of labor because the applicant process was made so onerous to keep people from applying for and receiving benefits. Regardless of what state you live in, know that this is an earned benefit that you deserve and keep trying, keep applying. You will eventually get through. Host jim on twitter makes this comment saying that there is no way the state Employment Commission has the staff to investigate every claim that comes in. He said this is a huge giveaway to every worker in america. Guest it is not really a huge giveaway and i would strongly discourage state since the last recession have established real penalties for overpayment, especially those done fraudulently. It is very clear from the department of labor guidance on all of this that people who fraudulently apply for benefits or who quit their job without , i would tell you, states have been airing on the side erring on the side of prosecuting fraud, sometimes making sure that initial claims are approved correctly. Fraud ishe policing of out there. It has been a priority for state agencies and this administration and the last administration. Host this from greg in kentucky, if conditions are vastly improved months from now, what requirement would there be for unappointed recipients to sikh and gain employment which would pay them less then the additional 60 they are receiving . Guest Unemployment Insurance was set up with the idea of getting people back to work. People must be able and available to work and improve every week to their unappointed Insurance Agency that they are actively seeking work means submitting information about work searches. Once the virus has passed, people will need to be looking for a new job and they cannot reject another new job that pays as well or is substantially. Lar to the last job the host john in venice, good morning. It took two days to go through the website application before i finally made it through. At the end, there is a phone number to call to verify your identity. I called it 100 times and waited on hold for six hours to find out a simple piece of information that i could tell everyone right now. All they want you to do is submit a copy of your Social Security card, your drivers license, your name, phone number, and last four digits of your social. For six hoursld for them to tell me that and it was on their whole recording but i thought that Something Different would happen when i got a person. Something that makes me even more livid is that the person i called was in her home with children playing in the background and i feel that this was insecure unsecure and she asked for my Social Security number, my address, my phone number and i could hear from the background that she was not in a professional environment. I feel totally just insecure and new ogically guest i am so sorry to hear that you have gone through that. I thank you for sharing this information with other floridians who may be listening. This underscores the need for paying attention to the unappointed insurance system when times are good. All of these changes were made as the Unemployment Rate drops. Became incredibly and accessible. We ignore these institutions whenever the Unemployment Rate is low and this really underscores the need to invest in longterm reform and make able to dotate are what florida did. Host brenda is on the line out of virginia. The kind of work did you do . Caller i worked for the boys and girls club. Host what has your experience been like . Caller i beg your pardon . Host you have to turn down your television and listen through your phone and we can have a conversation that way. Caller i recently filed an unemployment claim in which i was denied. I got a computer call telling me to continue to file weekly. The letter stated that i did not receive benefits in the right quarter, but during those quarters i was doing a training. I do have to file taxes for them and i was wondering if that was why i did not get the unemployment because i did not record that as a job because it was told to me that we were training. A job because it was told to me that we were training. Guest right. I would continue to try to contact the Unemployment Insurance agency. One thing that may be the case eligibley find you are for new benefits. You may be able to appeal. I know monitor eligibility requires that monetary eligibility requires that. There may be some way you are eligible either under the new pandemic unemployment assistance or by appealing. Continue to be involved with the agency to try to get benefits. Host heres a question from mike in north carolina. My wife and i sell antiques on ebay. With the total shutdown, the places i pick up my merchandise, such as flea markets and yard sales and estate sales all shut down. All of our business has stopped. Are my wife and i eligible for corona unemployment . Eligibility, determinations are ultimately the decision of your state they interpret the regulation. You may be able to make the case. There were criteria established but total loss of employment that is a direct result from on employment insurance and how it states interpret that is still a little bit how states are going to interpret that is still a little bit unclear. I cannot promise that they will approve your benefits them about you do not know until you apply. Host about 15 minutes left with michele evermore of the National Employment law project, senior policy analyst there, taking your questions about employment assistance during coronavirus. 202 7488000 if you are recently unemployed. 202 7488001 for all others. From minneapolis. Good morning. Caller thanks for taking my question. I am selfemployed as a cosmetologist. All of the loans i am not eligible for because i do not have employees. Per instruction of our commissioner of economic development, we were encouraged to apply for ui, which i did. I was sent a denial letter because im selfemployed. When theon is if and u. S. Department does send any guidance back to the states, will our benefits be retroactive from the original date of our applications were are we just out of luck for all these weeks we are waiting for this to get guest if you are found to be eligible, your benefit will be retroactive from the time you became unemployed. Peoplete will be sending letters that explain to them that they were denied for regular Unemployment Insurance, but now pandemic on employment insurance is in place. The guidance needed for states to implement this was issued sunday night. States can really start their program. It may still be a little while. All of the systems have to be completely reprogrammed at the same time that states are paying out record benefits. This could take a couple of weeks, but you should try to apply for pandemic on appointment assisted and that should be retroactive. To the new programs have any impact for viewers who may be worried about making sure they still get their medicaid or the funding from the Childrens HealthInsurance Program . Guest this income should not be counted against their eligibility for those programs. Host teresa is next out of new hampshire. Good morning. Caller good morning. I do work right now. I am 60 and my husband is 65. I am essential with family dollar. As the numbers get higher, for my own safety, i think i have to leave my job. Would i be eligible if it gets to a peak in the valley . We are hoping it does not and i would like to just keep working. Go ahead, michele evermore. Guest it is unclear how states will interpret the guidance that the department of labor issued. If you have to quit your job as i a direct result of covid19, there is a chance that you can make the case particularly if anyone has tested positive for covid19 that requires you to selfquarantine. The guidance that was issued sunday night seemed fairly narrow. It made it clear that people cannot simply quit and receive benefits. They gave examples about how to interpret the broader language about who can leave work in order to get pandemic on employment assistance. I would say consult with a state agency and make sure you are truly eligible for on employment insurance before you quit. Host this guidance you keep referring to that seems so important for eligibility, who is consulted when federal officials are coming up with that . Has your group been a part of that process . Guest the federal guidance is a factor it is one thing the does using its , a internal staff expertise number of Training Administration staff has to be involved in the guidance setting. This is not like rulemaking where the public is to come in. We shared with the employment and Training Administration our desire for this to be broadly interpreted so that everyone who lost their job as a result of covid19 could be eligible. Host for those recently unemployed, and any out of loss vegas las vegas. Caller i fall into an interesting category. I should easily be able to get the extra 600 per week. An Union Construction worker and i was recently laid off from the Convention Center in las vegas. I am an electrician so im losing quite a bit of money being laid off. Normally my salary would be week. 1800 per even with the extra 600, i am losing out substantially. We were laid off of our jobs because of this. I have filed on employment and i am getting regular on employment unemplmployment oyment. I heard you say earlier that that would be retroactively applied. I totally understand the process because as a construction worker i am used to dealing with the system. Is that a positive that they are going to be doing it retroactively . Since im a person that should easily qualify for that . Guest let me clear up confusion about retroactivity. The base pandemic unemployment benefit that mirrors regular insurance would be retroactive for when people lost work and that is because the unemployment base benefit was not available to them as it was to other people affected by the pandemic. The additional 600 that applies insuranceemployment and compensation will only be back dated to the date that the Agency Signed an agreement with the department of labor to carry out the new cares act. That should be retroactively available starting this week. The 600 is really only going forward. Base benefits should go backward. Host lets less than 10 minutes with michele evermore. For those who are recently mployed, www. Cspan. Org 202 7488001 for all others. This is debbie out of florida. Good morning. Caller good morning. My question is my husband was terminated on march 25 from his company of tournament 20 years. They offered him a small severance package which is only going to last him for about 16 weeks. E is 68 years old he was planning on working until he was 70. He is wondering if he is able to collect unemployment. Guest im going to leave a blanket caveat that the on employment Insurance Agency is the my advice is not the final determination. One thing to keep in mind is stayed on appointment Insurance Programs require state require t programs it seems like he should be able to apply for and receive benefits. He probably would not be eligible to start receiving benefits until the severance is paid out. Het what kind of work did do at that company for 20 years . . Re you still with us installer for an a fire door for hospitals. He was going to stay until he was 70. Host what is his plan now . Caller he does not know because im only 62 and he can get on medicare, but i cannot. He has lost his insurance and he has lost his job. Host how is he doing . Caller he is ok, he is a little down. Host thank you for the call. Caller thank you. Host out of pennsylvania, this is ellen. Good morning. Caller good morning, how are you doing . Host im well. Go ahead. Caller i have been working at a casino and i have been laid off and i went through the filing , it toldnd in the end me that i have to submit my formsfor my workers comp and my doctors note saying how much i can work and all that. ,t the end of the submission there was nowhere to attach those forms. When i called back, it says i have to speak to a representative and i could not get through to anyone. You dost wondering what in that case. Guest unfortunately, the systems are stretched to capacity. The good news is that additional administrative funding was included in the second covid stimulus bill and those funds are flowing to states right now to staff up so more people will be available to take your call. Additional funding is included in the third stimulus package for administering the new emergency programs. Hopefully there will be less stress on the system in the coming days and weeks so that it will be easier to call in and address technical problems. We anticipate needing to spend more money on the administrative funding so hopefully there will be more funding in any upcoming stemless package. Host speaking of the fourth package, what else needs to be clarified and what else do you hope will be included . Guest it is not clear from any guidance that the process to apply for benefits is streamlined. Also, this is now the time to start thinking about how do we sure up the system for the long run. P. The recent package has been helpful in terms of getting packages out on a temporary basis. All of these are based on systems that are not very userfriendly and do not pay enough benefits in normal time and are very difficult to maintain eligibility for. We are hoping that the next package includes more longterm reform. Host time for just a couple more calls with michele evermore. Connie is waiting on the line for those recently employed out of north carolina. What kind of work did you do . Caller i was at a restaurant for 30 for years. We are temporarily unemployed in the winter. I have been on unemployment. Have to turn your tv down. Tell us your story, you said you have been on on the plumbing for a while . Ive been on unemployment through the winter. The day we were scheduled to come back, she had to shut us down. Down,when they shut you what . Caller when they shut us down, might on employment is going to run out unemployment is going to run out. It is very likely that by the time you get to the end of the 13 week extended benefits, regular extended benefits will outy and whenever that runs , because you had a job that you were planning to go back to but could not, you should be able to apply for the new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program and continue that as long as it takes you to get back to your job. Host this is janet from pennsylvania. Caller yes, hello . Host go ahead, janet. Caller my question was kind of what that man before asked. It is for my daughter. Charts. Ieves medical she is what they call a travel agent for a company. She has been on unemployment in november for lack of work. Now, it is because of the virus. Her question was can she go over does she dohat or what she just told that man to do . She should be eligible for regular extended Unemployment Insurance which means all she has to do is certify and she can untilditional benefits regular benefits runs out. It will probably roll into ifular extended benefits and all of those are exhausted before the end of the year, it might be worth rolling onto pandemic on Employment Unemployment condensation compensation. This should be a smooth transition for her. Host is a couple of minutes left. This is kathy out of california. Good morning. Caller hello, should i give you my question . Host yes maam. Caller i work as a substitute calling fori am substitutes working with the union here. Two things have come up, one of them is retired teachers and the other is is immigrants with green cards. We solved the problem with retired teachers, it gets collocated. The immigrants with green cards are saying they cannot get unemployment. Can you give more information on that . Guest it is generally the case that immigrants with Work Authorization should be able to apply for and receive benefits. Undocumented workers may not. Most workers with authorization should be able to get benefits. I am not sure what the holdup is. I would need more information from the agency about what their denial is. Host for viewers who have questions like that, what is your recommendation . Guest talk to the state agency, reach out to local Unemployment Insurance activists. For lowwage workers, legal aid provides invaluable assistance to people trying to get Unemployment Insurance. Those are the best sources. Host the National Employment law project can be found at nmlp. Org. Thank you for more Coverage Later with larry hogan and his state. That is set at 130 eastern today. 90 minutes later, California Governor Gavin Newsom is a covid update starting at p. M. Eastern. Will have that live for you. The white house is a coronavirus briefing. President trump has been leading these briefings. That is due to start at 5 00. We will take you there begins live on cspan. Cspan has roundtheclock coverage of the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic and it is all available on demand at cspan. Org coronavirus. Watched white house briefings, updates from governors and state officials, track the spread throughout the u. S. And world with interactive maps, watch ondemand