Chambers of commerce have Q&A on who can get paid, how and when
By JACK FICHTER/Sentinel staff
The state had 140,000 additional unemployment insurance claimants last week bringing the total of state claimants since COVID-19 hit to 858,000, according to state Department of Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo.
The Chamber of Commerce of Cape May County and Atlantic City Chamber of Commerce hosted a virtual webinar on the topic of unemployment compensation and its impact on seasonal businesses with Asaro-Angelo fielding questions.
He said the state sent payments to 556,000 claimants so far but hundreds of thousands of claimants have not yet received a payment.
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance gives benefits to independent contractors and self- employed persons who were otherwise ineligible for unemployment insurance, he said.
Employees and employers have paid into unemployment insurance over time through W2 earnings, Asaro-Angelo said. Independent contractors and the self-employed have not been paying into unemployment insurance, so the state does not have any proof they have actually had any earnings. He said that has been the biggest hurdle in bringing the process on board.
“Every New Jerseyan whose is eligible for any of these benefits will get every dime, every penny that they are owed,” he said.
The CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act provides $600 of federal pandemic unemployment compensation, which is added on to every week of eligible unemployment assistance payments starting the week of March 29 until the last week of July, Asaro-Angelo said.
He said the $600 will arrive as a separate payment three to four days after the unemployment assistance payment. The first $600 payments were sent April 14 covering the first week of April.
Asaro-Angelo said the Department of Labor has received the most claims in the state from Atlantic County by proportion of population. He said his department has increased its number of employees but 92 percent of claimants were filing online.