Unemployment benefits will be in effect until March 14, 2021. The stimulus package approved Monday night will provide a second $600 stimulus check, plus those eligible for unemployment benefits will receive a weekly payment of $300 for 11 additional weeks of state benefits and those with the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program that will run out on December 26.
This program covers self-employed and temporary workers who work part-time and others who are not eligible for regular unemployment benefits.
All individuals who qualify for a $600 stimulus check will also receive an extra $300 per week paid from late December through March 14, for a total of 11 weeks.
This unemployment support is half of what the CARES Act offered to workers since it provided $600 a week in benefits. That payment ran out in July and President Trump extended it to $300 for six weeks.
Which workers will receive the additional $100
There is a change in the new stimulus package as a measure to help those who have lost their jobs and who have a mixture of income from both self-employment and wages paid by other employers.
The program would give an additional federal benefit of $100 a week to those who earn at least $5,000 a year in self-employment income but are disqualified from receiving a more generous Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefit because they are eligible for state unemployment assistance.
Suppose a person earned most of his income through self-employment in a theater but received less income from working in a restaurant when he was not working in a show. These types of workers would qualify for the additional $100 benefits if their state offered them.
The $100 will be in addition to the $300 weekly federal grant that also ends on March 14. For this benefit to take effect, your state must reach an agreement with the Department of Labor.
Many independent contractors and self-employed workers may have been receiving smaller unemployment checks, according to experts, because their payments were based on wages from their W-2 tax forms that didn’t include their self-employment income that could be higher.