Unemployment recipients should start getting their $600 increase in a couple weeks, but independent contractors and gig economy workers will have to wait a bit longer to get any benefits.
Under the federal CARES Act, those eligible for regular unemployment benefits will get another $600 a week. During Monday’s COVID-19 briefing, Indiana Department of Workforce Development Commissioner Fred Payne said those payments should begin the week of April 20. “The $600 benefit under [Pandemic Unemployment Compensation] is effective as of March 29, 2020 and payable for any week of unemployment through July 31, 2020,” Payne explained. “All benefits will be paid retroactively to March 29.”
Payne said his department has worked to revise its system to be able to send those payments electronically.
Another part of the CARES Act creates temporary unemployment insurance for those who wouldn’t normally qualify but would be working if it weren’t for COVID-19. Payne said that will be a little trickier to implement. “This new system, by and large, must be built,” he said. “Multiple agencies will need to be involved, as we must have a way to systematically confirm earnings in a manner that our current system does not.”
Payne said that portion of the act applies to those who were self-employed, independent contractors, and gig economy workers. He didn’t give a specific date for when those payments would start but said he’d provide more information in the coming days.
