The information provided on this post does not, and is not intended to, represent legal advice. All information available on this site is for general informational purposes only. If you need legal help, you should contact a lawyer. You may be eligible for our free legal services and can apply by calling our Covid Legal Hotline at 1-844-244-7871 or applying online here.

Updated as of December 29, 2020                         

The President signed the new stimulus bill providing new relief for many. The new laws will go into effect soon. These laws may provide relief if you currently have an Overpayment on your account for unemployment benefits you received under certain federal programs.

If the agency issues you an Overpayment, it is important that you appeal it and request a waiver. There are time limits to do this, so it is important that you do this right away. The Louisiana agency has not been providing waiver papers to a lot of people who received the special pandemic unemployment benefits before. The paperwork asks about your finances. If you do not get these papers before your hearing, ask for them and point that out at the hearing.

What are the changes under the new Act?

Until now, if you received benefits under some federal unemployment programs and shouldn’t have, there were no exceptions to the requirement that you pay the money back, even if you did nothing wrong. Now you can request a “waiver” (forgiveness of the debt) if it was not your fault and would cause a hardship.

You can now request a waiver if you are issued an Overpayment for receiving benefits under the following programs:

• Pandemic Unemployment Assistance: This is the federal program that allows people who cannot receive regular state unemployment benefits when their unemployment is Covid-19 related. These are usually people who do not have enough countable wages for state unemployment. But it also includes some people disqualified from state benefits.
• Lost Wage Assistance: This provided an additional $300 of unemployment benefits during part of August and September, 2020.

Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation that added $600 dollars a week to unemployment benefits up until July and now provides $300 already allowed waivers.

How do I appeal an Overpayment?

Appeal right away to protect your rights! You only have 15 days to submit your appeal. Just because you appealed your disqualification does not mean you appealed your overpayments. Often there will be more than one overpayment notice. You must appeal each overpayment separately. Your overpayment notice will include the date you must submit your appeal by. If you miss the deadline, you may lose your right to appeal.

The letter will provide instructions on how to appeal the overpayment. You can appeal:

• Online through your HIRE account at net. (This will be the fastest option.)
• Email— Complete the "I appeal" section on your letter, scan the page, and email it to ClerkAppeal@lwc.la.gov.
• Fax—Complete the "I appeal" section on your letter, and fax it to 1-225-346-6077.
• Postal mail— Complete the "I appeal" section on your letter, make a copy, and mail it to:

Louisiana Workforce Commission

Attn: Appeals Tribunal

P.O. Box 94094

Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9094

Make sure your appeal is postmarked by the appeal deadline provided on your letter.

If you decide to file an appeal and were getting benefits, you should still file your weekly certifications.

You should also be sent papers to request a waiver. You will fill out information about your income and expenses, and have the chance to explain why you cannot pay the overpayment amount.

These papers are often titled, “Consideration for Waiver of Recovery.”

It is important that you provide all of the information about your finances and hardships on these forms. Providing proof of these expenses will help as well. You will need to complete these forms and add them with your appeal.

The “Consideration for Waiver” form and proof of expenses do not need to be attached on the same day you submit your appeal, BUT it needs to be uploaded in the appeals section in HIRE for your overpayments at least 2 BUSINESS DAYS before the day of your hearing. An administrative law judge is not required to accept or review any documents that are not on time.

If you do not have a HIRE account, you may also submit this form by one of the following methods:

• Email— complete the "I appeal" section on your letter, scan the page, and email it to ClerkAppeal@lwc.la.gov.
• Fax—complete the "I appeal" section on your letter, and fax it to 1-225-346-6077.
• Postal mail— Complete the "I appeal" section on your letter, make a copy, and mail it to:

Louisiana Workforce Commission

Attn: Appeals Tribunal

P.O. Box 94094

Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9094

Make sure you send your Consideration for Waiver form as soon as possible to allow time for delivery of postal mail. The Board of Review may review a “Consideration for Waiver” form that is submitted after a hearing has already been held, but there needs to be just cause. An example of just cause is if the Agency did not provide this form for you to fill out.

You can also call Southeast Louisiana Legal Services to see if we can give you free legal help. Call our COVID-19 Helpline at 1-844-244-7871 to apply for free legal assistance. But go ahead and appeal before you hear back from Legal Services.

What happens if I appeal?

If your appeal is submitted before the deadline on your letter, a telephone hearing will be scheduled with an Administrative Law Judge, unless the agency fixes the problem ahead of time.  Be sure you are available for your hearing. If you cannot make the scheduled time, you must contact the agency as soon as possible so that you don’t automatically lose your appeal.

You will be sent a letter with the hearing date, time, and the reason for the hearing. Be sure to read this letter carefully.

The judge must also explain your rights at the hearing. These rights include the right to:

• speak for yourself
• have witnesses with important information speak
• go over your entire record of documents and proof submitted regarding your unemployment claim and overpayment.
• object to improper evidence or testimony

If you are not given the opportunity to appeal or if you are not given information on your hearing, you should contact a lawyer as soon as possible.

At the hearing you will have the opportunity to explain why the overpayment is incorrect or why the amount the State claims that you need to repay is incorrect.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) moratorium on certain evictions is extended until June 30, 2021. You can still be evicted for some reasons other than nonpayment of rent. In order to qualify for protection you must fill out a declaration form and provide it to your landlord. Click here for more information about the CDC moratorium.

2. The law also includes a $300/week boost to unemployment programs for an extended 11-week period. Click here for more information about changes to unemployment under the stimulus plan. To learn more about to how to apply for unemployment benefits go to www.louisianaworks.net/hire/vosnet/Default.aspx.

3. Qualifying individuals who make less than $75,000 per year will receive a $1,400 stimulus payment. Click here for important information about how to access a stimulus payment if you do not file taxes.

The information provided on this post does not, and is not intended to, represent legal advice. All information available on this site is for general informational purposes only. If you need legal help, you should contact a lawyer. You may be eligible for our free legal services and can apply by calling our Covid Legal Hotline at 1-844-244-7871 or applying online here.

Updated as of January 12, 2021.

Congress passed the new stimulus bill providing new relief for many. These benefits are sometimes called PUA and PEUC. Here are some of the new changes that will occur:

Will my benefits continue past December 26, 2020?

The last payments under the previous stimulus bill were issued for the week ending on December 26, 2020.

Under the new stimulus package, eligibility for benefits would be extended from:

• 39 weeks (under the CARES Act) to 50 weeks for those under Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which is only two weeks short of a year… OR
• 11 weeks (under the CARES Act) to 24 weeks for those under Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation.

BUT… all of this would end on March 14, 2021 unless it gets extended further.

To get this, claimants must meet the requirements weekly, by certifying with the agency weekly, looking for work, etc.

You may need to refile to continue your eligibility, but depending on your facts and what the agency requires.

Will my benefits be the same amount?

The federal government will add an extra $300 a week to unemployment checks. This will be similar to the previous extra $600 supplement under the CARES Act.

And if Louisiana takes certain action, some workers who had low reported wages but also had some other work will get a $100 a week increase because their benefits are so low. This new program will most likely apply to workers such as gig-workers or independent contractors that have a mixed form of earned income.

Will my benefits count towards my income for SNAP (also known as Food Stamps)? 

If you are receiving or applying for SNAP, the extra $300 will NOT be counted as income to determine if you are eligible for SNAP.

However, State unemployment benefits will still be counted.

What happens after the changes expire on March 14, 2021?

If you have not used all your benefits weeks by then, the new stimulus bill would allow for benefits to continue for an additional 4 weeks. This means that your benefits would continue until the week of April 5, 2021.

Again these additional 4 weeks are ONLY for those who do not use all their benefits by March 14, 2021. For example, if you are on your 36th week (if you are a pandemic unemployment assistance claimant) of receiving benefits on March 14^th then you will be able to continue receiving benefits for 4 more weeks.

There is no information or plan yet for those who used all their benefits before then.

Can benefits be retroactive to my original date of unemployment?

Maybe. Claimants who started receiving their benefits based on specific Covid-19 reasons before December 26, 2020 were able to receive unemployment benefits back to their original date of the unemployment. Newer claimants would only be able to back date their Covid-related claims for their related COVID-19 unemployment to December 1, 2020, even if the job loss was earlier.

Will the COVID-19 related reasons for eligibility change?

No. There have been no changes to the COVID-19 related reasons that allow some people to qualify for unemployment even if they would not have under normal state law. People who would not get unemployment under normal state law continue to be eligible for if you meet one or more of the following COVID-19 related reasons:

• You have been diagnosed with COVID-19 or are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and are seeking medical diagnosis;
• member of your household has been diagnosed with COVID-19;
• You are providing care for a family member or a member of your household who has COVID-19;
• A child or other person in the household for which you are responsible for is unable to attend school or another facility that is closed as a direct result of the COVID-19 public health emergency and such school or facility care is required for the individual to work;
• You are unable to reach your workplace because of a quarantine imposed as a direct result of COVID-19;
• You are unable to reach your workplace because you have been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to COVID-19;
• You were scheduled to commence employment and do not have a job or are unable to reach the job as a direct result of the COVID-19;
• You have become the breadwinner or major support for a household because the head of the household has died as a direct result of COVID-19, and/or
• Your place of employment is closed as a direct result of the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Other reasons might be recognized depending on your situation. It is important to remember that LWC will be reviewing each claim on an individual basis.

Will there be any new requirements for applicants?

Yes. If you have been receiving benefits throughout this year, you may be asked submit proof of wages you earned from employment. This requirement will be for both regular W-2 workers and self-employed workers. You will have 90 days to submit these records to the agency. It is not certain when this 90 day deadline would start, but you should be receiving some notice from the agency.

Failing to provide proof of wages should not be the only reason for your benefits to stop. Though it is important that you have these records ready in case you will need to provide them to avoid any delays.

New applicants who start filing on or after January 31 will also need to provide proof of their earnings, but will only have 21 days to provide this proof to the agency. There may be some exceptions to the 21 day deadline if there is good cause. Again failing to provide proof of wages should not be the only reasons for benefits to stop, but it is important to have these records ready.

This new requirement will mostly be apply to those receiving benefits under Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

If I am asked to refile, will my weekly benefit amount change due to my new base period?

Most likely not. The new stimulus bill will allow most people to continue receiving benefits based on the original base period you had when you first filed your claim for unemployment benefits. This means your weekly benefit amount should not change. In some unusual situations, this may not be true. You can contact the number below to see if we can help if your weekly benefit amount goes down.

Other important information:

It is important that you file your weekly certifications. Failure to file weekly certifications was sometimes excused in the summer and fall of 2020. But now failure to do this may keep your benefits from continuing.

This Blog post is only meant to provide information on the new stimulus bill. There is still no information on how these changes will happen in the course of the next couple of weeks. Please keep checking the SLLS blog for updates and changes in the law.

If you are having problems with your unemployment benefits please feel free to call the Southeast Louisiana Legal Services Covid-19 Legal Hotline at 1-844-244-7871. We may be able to provide free legal assistance regarding your unemployment situation.