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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 ended COVID-related unemployment benefits on July 31, 2021. It ended:

• Aid for people who aren’t eligible for regular unemployment. These people can include:
  • “gig” workers
  • others who did not earn enough wages
  • others who do not get W2s
  • people who can’t work because of COVID, and
  • some people who were disqualified for unemployment.

This is aid was called Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA).

• Unemployment for people who used all 26 weeks of their regular state unemployment benefits. This was called Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC).
• The extra $300 that was added onto weekly unemployment checks. This is called Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (PUC).

How does this affect me?

If you have been receiving PUA:

You will not get paid for any weeks after July. Your claim has ended. This is true even if you have a benefit balance, or if HIRE shows that your claim would not end until September 4, 2021.

If you filed for any weeks after July 31, You will not be paid for these weeks. You won’t get paid even if the agency says your Hire Account says that your claim is “In Progress.“

If you have been receiving PEUC:

You can only get paid if you file a new “claim” for unemployment and you worked enough since the beginning of your last claim.

If you have been receiving FPUC:

If you have been getting more than $247 a week in unemployment, you will now get $300 less per week, if you still get unemployment benefits. This is for any weeks after July 31.

If you haven’t filed a claim yet:

Your benefits for August and after will be decided by state law, with no extra $300 a week. There is no longer coverage for

• gig workers
• those who do not have enough wages in the last 18 months
• those unemployed because of Covid
• people who have used their 26 weeks of state benefits for the year
• etc.

If you lost a job before July 31, you can still file a claim to get these benefits for weeks before August. You can file for this until September 4, 2021.

What if I was denied the extra benefits?

You can appeal if you were denied these extra benefits for time before August 2021 IF your appeal deadline has not run out. LWC can pay the extra benefits for weeks that were before August.

If you got more than one denial notice, it is important to appeal each notice separately.

If you have already appealed  and you are waiting for a hearing, you will get a hearing. If you win, you will get those benefits for weeks before August, 2021.

If you have received a denial, Southeast Louisiana Legal Services may be able to give free help with your appeal. To see the ways you can ask for our help, see https://slls.org/get-help/client-services.