The Alabama Department of Labor on Wednesday began attaching $600 extra dollars to most unemployment benefits in accordance with funding provided by the recent $2.2 trillion federal stimulus bill also known as the CARES Act.
The $600 has been termed the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC).
Per the Department, just over $40 million of FPUC money was disbursed among 60,848 claimants on Wednesday.
The FPUC benefit began on March 29, according to a release on the Department’s website. For any weeks of unemployment claimed since that date, the Department of Labor will send retroactive payments.
If an individual filed an unemployment claim earlier in March, they will not receive the $600 payments for weeks before March 29.
No additional effort or filing of any kind is needed for an unemployed person to receive these benefits.
“We understand the frustration of many Alabamians who are out of work due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and we know that they need these benefits to stay afloat,” said Alabama Secretary of Labor Fitzgerald Washington.
In addition to the $600 FPUC, the CARES Act created two other programs intended to help Americans negatively affected by the precautions necessitated by COVID-19.
Excerpt as follows:
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) – provides unemployment benefits to those not ordinarily eligible for them. This includes individuals who are self-employed or contract employees. This benefit is retroactive to January 27, 2020.
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) – allows for an additional 13 weeks of benefits added to the end of regular unemployment benefits. This means claimants may collect unemployment benefits for a longer period of time than under normal circumstances.
The Department of Labor is strongly encouraging those seeking benefits to apply online.
The Department also warned, “The CARES Act specifically provides for serious consequences for fraudulent cases including fines, confinement, and an inability to receive future unemployment benefits.”
Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: [email protected] or on Twitter @HenryThornton95.
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