CT DOL Announces Lost Wages Assistance
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Hartford – The Connecticut Dept. of Labor recently announced the federal approval of the Lost Wages Assistance program, which will provide a supplemental unemployment benefit to claimants that have lost their jobs due to COVID-19.
Those wishing to qualify for the benefit will need to self-certify through the state’s Dept. of Labor. To learn more about the program click here, or read more information below.
Lost Wages Assistance (LWA)
Connecticut has been approved for an additional two weeks of Lost Wages Assistance supplemental benefits and that claimant self-certification opened today. Lost Wages Assistance is the new federal program funded by $44 billion in Stafford Act disaster relief. It will provide an additional $300 per week for any claimant who has a weekly benefit of at least $100 (including the dependency allowance) and who has become unemployed or partially unemployed due to COVID-19.
Existing Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claimants have already self-certified and do not need to do anything to receive the additional benefit. New unemployment claimants and existing state and extended benefits claimants who are required to self-certify are notified by the Department. Self-certification is only required once for the duration of eligibility, it is not required weekly. CTDOL is testing certification by opening the screens in small batches to small numbers of people. Please note that no payments will be made until certification is out of testing and widely available. To self-certify:
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Claimants log in to their unemployment account, where the account main page offers a new option in the menu ‘Certify for Lost Wages Assistance;’
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Once a claimant has clicked on the button, a new screen will ask them to certify that their unemployment or underemployment is due to COVID-19;
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The claimant then confirms their submission and has completed the process.
Federal eligibility guidelines include:
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Recipients of at least $100 per week, including the dependency allowance, of any of the following benefits for the week they are seeking unemployment benefits;
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Claimants receiving unemployment compensation including state and federal workers and former service members as well as those receiving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, Extended Benefits, or High Extended Benefits;
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Claimants who are part of the Shared Work program, and;
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Workers with a Trade Readjustment Allowance.