State Has Issued $2.9 Billion in Benefits Since March 1
HONOLULU — The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR) today announced updated unemployment insurance claims information, including paying $2,918,251,462 and 2,874,671 weeks claimed since the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic on March 1, 2020.
“We are still experiencing a significant increase of workers still attached to an employer being fully released from employment. These individuals will need to report the separation when filing a weekly claim certification. Claimants can review the correct way to do this at https://labor.hawaii.gov/ui/main/reactivate-your-claim-and-report-job-seperation/ before filing their weekly claim certification,” said Acting Director Anne Eustaquio.
No. of claims filed statewide: 275,621
No. of invalid claims filed statewide: -95,367
No. of valid claims awaiting claimant to verify: -9,520
No. of valid claims requiring DLIR action 180,254
No. of claims paid: 169,882
No. of claims requiring DLIR action 8/26/20 10,372
With the assistance of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA), the DLIR yesterday applied to participate in a new unemployment insurance plus up program called the Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) Program. The program, under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), was created by the President via a memorandum earlier this month in response to the July expiration of the unemployment $600 weekly benefit.
“We’re diligently building a new program within the unemployment computer system to implement and pay LWA benefits as soon as possible,” said Acting Director Eustaquio. “To qualify for the $300 plus-up, recipients must be eligible for at least $100 in weekly benefits and must certify that they are unemployed or partially unemployed due to the disruptions caused by COVID-19. Payments would be retroactive to August 1, 2020.”
The DLIR continues to experience a high volume of attempts at fraud in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program. As of August 24, the department received 112,874 applications and processed 102,165 or 91% of the applications. The department has denied 72,212 claims or 64% of the claims filed and has 15,676 or 14% of the applications pending for ID verification, COVID-19 eligibility, or both.
For more information about unemployment insurance and other labor issues please visit: https://labor.hawaii.gov/covid-19-labor-faqs/.
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