Salem’s Capitol Mall park, deserted on Friday, March 27, 2020 around 9 a.m., during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)
Oregon began accepting jobless claims from self-employed and gig workers Tuesday, a little more than a month after President Donald Trump signed a law making those workers eligible for benefits.
Self-employed workers and contractors usually don’t pay into the unemployment benefits program and historically have not been eligible for claims. Congress changed that last month with the passage of the CARES Act, which broadened those who may receive jobless benefits during the coronavirus epidemic.
However, Oregon and many other states struggled to adapt aging computer systems to accept the expanded benefits claims. That left thousands of workers without benefits during the first weeks of the pandemic.
In a memo to Oregon Employment Department staff Tuesday, deputy director Lisa Schriever said the state will begin accepting claims for self-employed workers, contractors and gig workers Tuesday. The expanded program is called Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or PUA.
The program will pay claims retroactively, Schriever wrote, and will be run by staff with special training on the expanded benefits. People can potentially be eligible for retroactive benefits as far back as Feb. 2.
“The majority of customers will receive an initial minimum claim of $205. All eligible PUA claims will receive FPUC payments of $600 per week from March 29 through July 25, 2020,” Schriever wrote.
Workers can estimate what they will receive by checking an online table. The department said it can take a week to a month to process applications depending on the complexity of claims.
Applicants can submit their claims by writing to [email protected] to receive a secure link to the employment department. The department posted the application form and instructions online. Some self-employed and contract workers had already filed claims; the department is asking them to fill out its new application form, too.
This story is published as part of a collaborative of news organizations across Oregon sharing stories in the public interest. Salem Reporter is part of the collaborative.
