Lost your Unemployment Appeal? There still may be hope.

Posted on: August 17, 2021
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.

Louisiana has often denied unemployment benefits without looking at other ways people can be eligible for the benefits. In the same way, in appeals or fair hearings, the agency often does not look at all ways you can get the benefits.

If this happened to you, Southeast Louisiana Legal Services may still be able to help you get unemployment. Even if you lost your appeal. And even though people can no longer apply for PUA in Louisiana.

Our services are free. You can see if we can help by calling 1-844-244-7871, or by applying online here.

If you were disqualified for regular unemployment benefits, you may still be eligible for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA.)

PUA was created for claimants who cannot get regular unemployment benefits, like people who are self-employed, work as freelancers.  But it also covers many people who are disqualified from regular unemployment benefits.

In Louisiana, all unemployment claims are considered for regular unemployment first. The agency fails to look at PUA for some people who do not get PUA.

In other cases, the agency incorrectly starts some claims as regular unemployment. A claimant may receive several months of benefits under this way before LWC detects the error.

When the error is discovered, LWC sends notice that the claimant is not eligible, and other notices that they owe all the money back.

In many of these cases, the agency fails to check to see if the claim could be paid under PUA.

If your unemployment was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and you have been denied unemployment benefits, but your notices do not say anything about PUA then you still be able to get PAU. Attorneys at Southeast Louisiana Legal Services may be able to make sure the agency looks at whether you should get PUA.

Please note, Louisiana ended its PUA program on July 31, 2021. So only people who filed a claim for before then can get this help.

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