212.627.8100If you received the maximum 26 weeks of regular unemployment insurance, you may be eligible for two other programs to extend your unemployment benefits for a total of up to 59 weeks. Those who are not eligible for regular unemployment insurance, but are receiving benefits under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, are not eligible for the extensions discussed here, but under current rules may be eligible for up to a maximum of 46 weeks unemployment insurance.
For those receiving regular unemployment insurance, if you remain unemployed, but you exhaust all 26 weeks of regular unemployment benefits, you will then be eligible for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), which will extend your unemployment benefits an additional 13 weeks. Individuals receiving PEUC receive the same amount of weekly benefits they received during the first 26 weeks and will remain eligible for the additional weekly pandemic payment of $600 through July 26, 2020. The 13-week extension through the PEUC program ends the week of December 27, 2020.
If you remain unemployed after receiving the additional 13 weeks of PEUC and you still meet your state’s eligibility requirements for receiving unemployment benefits, you may be eligible to receive additional unemployment benefits through the Extended Benefits (EB) program. In states currently experiencing high unemployment, the EB program provides additional weeks of unemployment benefits after the 13 weeks of PEUC has been exhausted. In some states, such as New York, where the unemployment rate is currently classified as “extremely high,” the state government has opted to pay additional weeks of unemployment benefits through the EB program, so New Yorkers may be eligible for up to 20 weeks of EB, for a maximum of 59 weeks of possible unemployment benefits.
If you are within the same year that you filed for unemployment benefits, you can receive extended benefits by continuing to certify online or by phone, as you previously did for regular unemployment benefits. However, if your Benefit Year has expired, you must file a new claim to receive extended benefits by either filing a claim online at unemployment.labor.ny.gov, or by telephone at 1-888-209-8124. For more information on PEUC and EB in New York, see New York State Department of Labor information here.
To recap, if you are unemployed longer than 26 weeks and receiving regular unemployment benefits, you may be eligible for 13 weeks of extended benefits through the PEUC program, and then possibly up to 20 weeks of extended benefits through the EB program, for a possible maximum of 59 weeks of unemployment benefits.