Those affected in pandemic could have backpay coming

The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD), has launched an expansion of the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program (PUA). The U.S. Dept. of Labor expanded eligibility for the program in February, to include three new COVID-related reasons under which a person may qualify.

Notices will be mailed to nearly 28,000 people who were initially denied PUA benefits, telling them they can re-apply. Depending on when someone was first affected by the pandemic, they could potentially receive up to 79 weeks of back payments.

“We know thousands of Wisconsinites, many of whom have pre-existing conditions, did not feel safe returning to work as the pandemic swept across our state, if their employers chose not to enforce safety precautions,” said DWD secretary-designee Amy Pechacek. “Additionally, some businesses, in an effort to protect the public or simply in response to demand, were able to stay open, but with a substantially scaled-back or modified workforce. Now all of these impacted workers will be eligible for critical federal benefits under the PUA program.”

People who previously applied for the PUA by Dec. 27, 2020, can backdate their applications to whenever they were first impacted by the pandemic. Once someone receives their application in the mail, they should complete it and upload it online in their claimant portal.

Someone who had not previously filed for PUA, but believes they are now eligible, can also apply for the expansion. They will be able to file a PUA application under one of the three new reasons, but will be subject to backdating limitations.

DWD officials expect to release millions of dollars of additional PUA payments under the new expansion.

For more information on expanded PUA and other UI programming, visit dwd.wisconsin.gov.