Benefit enhancements approved

Benefit enhancements approved

On Feb. 11, Gov. Gregoire signed into law several enhancements to unemployment benefits.

Temporary measure adds $25 to weekly benefits
People who file new unemployment claims during the time period of March 6 through Nov. 5, 2011, will receive an additional $25 a week.

Although the benefit increase takes effect in March, it will not start showing up in unemployment checks until July because it will take time for Employment Security to program the computer system. Eligible claimants will receive retroactive payments for the weeks they claim prior to July.

Extended benefits continued through end of year
Extended benefits will remain available in Washington through the end of the year, aiding nearly 70,000 workers who would have lost access to these benefits this spring.

The continuation of extended benefits does not increase the total weeks available. Therefore, people who have already collected all of their extended benefits are not eligible for additional benefits.

Part-time workers in training get to keep more of their benefits
Several changes were made to the department’s Training Benefits Program to make it more accessible and flexible. Starting in July 2012, all application and enrollment deadlines will be eliminated. Also, participants who are working part-time and attending approved job training will get to keep more of their weekly unemployment benefits. Additional changes to the program are described in our fact sheet.

Read the fact sheet about benefit enhancements and tax reductions to find out more.