Unemployment benefits related to federal shutdown

Updated October 17, 2013

Now that the federal shutdown is ending, how do I close my unemployment claim?

The easiest thing is to stop filing your weekly claims.

Should I file a weekly claim next week for the time I was unemployed this week?

That’s up to you. Federal employees and federally funded state employees will receive back-pay for the time they were furloughed, and any unemployment benefits they received must be repaid.

However, it may take some time before the next payroll is processed. If you were furloughed long enough this week to qualify for unemployment benefits, you may want to file a weekly claim for this week (beginning 12:01 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 20). You would need to report the number of hours you worked this week and the amount of money you earned, and then repay the unemployment benefits later.

(Employment Security employees, watch your office email for more details about back-pay, timesheets and payroll.)

What’s the process for repaying unemployment benefits?

After the shutdown is over, Employment Security will attempt to arrange with federal agencies to withhold the appropriate amount of funds from the future paycheck/s of furloughed employees and to reimburse us on their behalf. If we cannot make those arrangements, we will send each worker a notice with the amount they must repay.

(Employment Security employees will receive instructions by email.)

What if I didn’t get a benefit check yet?

There could be a few reasons why you didn’t get a check. You can contact the claims center for more information:

Here are a couple things to keep in mind:

• If you’re eligible for benefits, we will pay you retroactively, even after you’ve returned to work.
• If you know you’re going to receive backpay and don’t want the hassle of repaying unemployment benefits, contact the claim center right away to put a hold on your claim.

Taken directly from the ESD website