Up to 13 weeks of additional unemployment insurance benefits are now available to help Alaskans out of work due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, according to the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
The program known as Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation is part of the CARES Act signed into law on March 27. Benefits would be payable to those who have exhausted benefits on a regular unemployment claim that ended July 6, 2019 or later. The additional payments are available for weeks ending April 4 through Dec. 26.
The weekly benefit payment and dependent allowance will remain the same. Similar to regular benefits, these payments are subject to an IRS tax withholding.
Individuals meeting criteria for this program will be mailed notification of potential eligibility and advised to contact their claim center to complete an application.
