As climate change increasingly drives one devastating disaster after another, such as the recent hurricanes in the Southeast and wildfires in California, more and more workers are finding themselves jobless. While some of these workers may qualify for traditional unemployment insurance (UI), many—such as independent contractors, self-employed workers, or people whose work or ability to report to work are affected by the disaster—may not. All workers who find themselves jobless due to a natural disaster—whether they qualify for UI or not—need to know that there is a federal program that may be able to help them out: Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA).
DUA is a program parallel to traditional unemployment insurance that pays a weekly benefit to workers who lose work due to a natural disaster but would not otherwise be eligible for regular UI. The DUA program was critical for supporting jobless workers and their families in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, for example, and can be just as helpful to workers made jobless by the fires currently raging in Los Angeles, California. Here’s what workers who become jobless due to a disaster need to know in order to claim benefits through the DUA program. In addition, there are also steps that states experiencing natural disasters and the federal government can take to ensure that more DUA relief assistance is available to workers in times of crisis.
What should workers who have lost their jobs do?
Claimants who find themselves out of a job or unable to work due to a natural disaster should first apply through their state unemployment insurance agency. Workers who qualify for UI will use that benefit before becoming eligible for DUA. After any UI benefits are exhausted, or if the claimant doesn’t qualify for UI benefits, eligible applicants will receive DUA benefits, up to a total benefit period of twenty-six weeks (in some past cases, this period has been extended to fifty-two weeks). The minimum weekly DUA benefit is one-half of the average weekly UI benefit paid to claimants in the state during the most recent fiscal quarter. For more detailed information about this program, the Congressional Research Service has prepared an excellent report outlining key points in history and details of the program.
What can states do to help unemployed people in a disaster?
States have varying authority about waiving certain requirements for unemployment insurance during a disaster. These states can and should push for a Presidential Disaster Declaration that fully covers the affected area. Information about disaster declarations can be found on the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) website. Some other common flexibilities that states employ include:
- Waiving work search. One key requirement of unemployment insurance is that workers must be able and available to work. Most states demonstrate this by requiring a certain number of specified work search activities in a given week. During a disaster, states may give claimants more flexibility around these requirements.
- Waiving the waiting week. Most states require a waiting period of one week before they commence paying benefits. It usually takes about three weeks to qualify for a benefit, and after the state determines eligibility, it can either pay every week since the employee lost work, or skip the first week. Major disasters are a good reason to get as much money to people affected as possible, so states should waive the waiting period if they are able to.
- Waiving “experience rating.” Disasters are hard on employers, too. One core requirement of unemployment insurance is that employers are taxed based on “experience,” or proportional to how many former employees receive a UI benefit. However, sometimes when employees lose work through no fault of the employer, such as due to disaster, states may waive this charge.
All of these flexibilities were included in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act signed on March 18, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, so states should have familiarity with these allowances. In addition to these flexibilities, states could consider increasing the weekly benefit amount. North Carolina’s Governor Cooper recently increased weekly benefits by $250 per week and the maximum benefit to $600 per week in response to Hurricane Helene. This increase would also increase the amount claimants receive in DUA, which is significant because workers in North Carolina are otherwise only entitled to twelve weeks of benefits, so claimants would move from UI to DUA from their thirteenth to their twenty-sixth week of unemployment.
What should the federal government do?
First, Congress should amend the law so that claimants can get DUA benefits immediately, even if they might be eligible for regular UI. Because the minimum weekly benefit for DUA is higher than state UI minimum benefits, this would help the lowest-income disaster survivors the most. Also, because DUA is federally funded, states have greater incentive to publicize the program and pay benefits.
Congress should also allow states to waive non-fraud overpayments. Payments to people in emergencies can be declared an overpayment for many innocent reasons. For example, during the pandemic, millions of claimants who got the right amount of money at the right time but failed to provide paperwork the state requested months after they got the benefit and were therefore considered to be “overpaid,” but many of these overpayment declarations were waived. Disaster survivors should get the same benefit of the doubt.
Congress should also allow states to write off mistakes they made in paying the Lost Wages Assistance benefits that were paid in August and September 2020 as the result of a Presidential Memorandum. This was a new, one-time, short-term additional $300 addition to weekly unemployment benefits that ran from four to six weeks during the height of the pandemic. States made mistakes standing up the program and are now struggling to find and pay back mistakes they made more than four years ago. Allowing states to write this off will help them respond to current and future disasters rather than chase funds that will be difficult to recover.
Finally, considering that federally declared disasters can displace people for extended periods, both the duration and amount of the benefit should at least be doubled. Major disasters affect entire communities and claimants are likely to have not just lost their livelihood and also their homes. Friends, family, and neighbors that people ordinarily rely on will likely also be struggling. People should be eligible for benefits that are big enough and last long enough to rebuild their lives.
Tags: natural disasters, unemployment insurance, disaster relief, wildfires, emergency relief
Workers Affected by L.A. Fires Can Apply for Disaster Unemployment Benefits
As climate change increasingly drives one devastating disaster after another, such as the recent hurricanes in the Southeast and wildfires in California, more and more workers are finding themselves jobless. While some of these workers may qualify for traditional unemployment insurance (UI), many—such as independent contractors, self-employed workers, or people whose work or ability to report to work are affected by the disaster—may not. All workers who find themselves jobless due to a natural disaster—whether they qualify for UI or not—need to know that there is a federal program that may be able to help them out: Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA).
DUA is a program parallel to traditional unemployment insurance that pays a weekly benefit to workers who lose work due to a natural disaster but would not otherwise be eligible for regular UI. The DUA program was critical for supporting jobless workers and their families in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, for example, and can be just as helpful to workers made jobless by the fires currently raging in Los Angeles, California. Here’s what workers who become jobless due to a disaster need to know in order to claim benefits through the DUA program. In addition, there are also steps that states experiencing natural disasters and the federal government can take to ensure that more DUA relief assistance is available to workers in times of crisis.
What should workers who have lost their jobs do?
Claimants who find themselves out of a job or unable to work due to a natural disaster should first apply through their state unemployment insurance agency. Workers who qualify for UI will use that benefit before becoming eligible for DUA. After any UI benefits are exhausted, or if the claimant doesn’t qualify for UI benefits, eligible applicants will receive DUA benefits, up to a total benefit period of twenty-six weeks (in some past cases, this period has been extended to fifty-two weeks). The minimum weekly DUA benefit is one-half of the average weekly UI benefit paid to claimants in the state during the most recent fiscal quarter. For more detailed information about this program, the Congressional Research Service has prepared an excellent report outlining key points in history and details of the program.
What can states do to help unemployed people in a disaster?
States have varying authority about waiving certain requirements for unemployment insurance during a disaster. These states can and should push for a Presidential Disaster Declaration that fully covers the affected area. Information about disaster declarations can be found on the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) website. Some other common flexibilities that states employ include:
All of these flexibilities were included in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act signed on March 18, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, so states should have familiarity with these allowances. In addition to these flexibilities, states could consider increasing the weekly benefit amount. North Carolina’s Governor Cooper recently increased weekly benefits by $250 per week and the maximum benefit to $600 per week in response to Hurricane Helene. This increase would also increase the amount claimants receive in DUA, which is significant because workers in North Carolina are otherwise only entitled to twelve weeks of benefits, so claimants would move from UI to DUA from their thirteenth to their twenty-sixth week of unemployment.
What should the federal government do?
First, Congress should amend the law so that claimants can get DUA benefits immediately, even if they might be eligible for regular UI. Because the minimum weekly benefit for DUA is higher than state UI minimum benefits, this would help the lowest-income disaster survivors the most. Also, because DUA is federally funded, states have greater incentive to publicize the program and pay benefits.
Congress should also allow states to waive non-fraud overpayments. Payments to people in emergencies can be declared an overpayment for many innocent reasons. For example, during the pandemic, millions of claimants who got the right amount of money at the right time but failed to provide paperwork the state requested months after they got the benefit and were therefore considered to be “overpaid,” but many of these overpayment declarations were waived. Disaster survivors should get the same benefit of the doubt.
Congress should also allow states to write off mistakes they made in paying the Lost Wages Assistance benefits that were paid in August and September 2020 as the result of a Presidential Memorandum. This was a new, one-time, short-term additional $300 addition to weekly unemployment benefits that ran from four to six weeks during the height of the pandemic. States made mistakes standing up the program and are now struggling to find and pay back mistakes they made more than four years ago. Allowing states to write this off will help them respond to current and future disasters rather than chase funds that will be difficult to recover.
Finally, considering that federally declared disasters can displace people for extended periods, both the duration and amount of the benefit should at least be doubled. Major disasters affect entire communities and claimants are likely to have not just lost their livelihood and also their homes. Friends, family, and neighbors that people ordinarily rely on will likely also be struggling. People should be eligible for benefits that are big enough and last long enough to rebuild their lives.
Tags: natural disasters, unemployment insurance, disaster relief, wildfires, emergency relief