Tuesday, December 29, 2020
For employers, there are two key elements of the stimulus package that you should be aware of:
Unemployment Insurance (UI)
The package provides that individuals receiving unemployment benefits will receive an additional $300 per week in federal UI benefits for up to 11 weeks through March 14, 2021. As you may recall, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (more familiarly known as the CARES Act) provided recipients of state unemployment benefits with a $600 supplement, which expired in July 2020. The package’s $300 federal payment is, likewise, in addition to payments that individuals receive from their state unemployment programs.
In addition, it extends the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) programs. The PUA program provides federally funded benefits to individuals who do not otherwise qualify for state unemployment benefits, such as self-employed work