Unemployment Claim Management & Appeals
Streamline your management of unemployment benefits claims. Find out how to respond to our Notice of Application for Unemployment Benefits, Earnings Verification request and Notice of Maximum Potential Chargeback. Understand your rights and responsibilities, how to appeal a decision and more.
- For help with responding online, see our Employer Response User Guide.
-; Learn how to respond to a Notice of Maximum Potential Chargeback
Why Did Benefits End Early In So Many States
Citing labor shortages in the spring, 26 state governors claimed pandemic-related unemployment benefits were producing limited incentives for workers to take jobs.;Many economists and analysts disagreed, highlighting several factors that prevented people from finding suitable work, including low wages, lack of health care, inadequate child care and fear of contracting COVID-19.;
With unemployment claims still fluctuating as the economy struggles to return to pre-pandemic “normalcy,” reports are showing that the premature cancellation of the federal programs had;little impact on labor markets. A recent;JP Morgan Chase Institute study; confirmed that states that ended supplemental unemployment insurance programs during the summer saw a limited impact on job growth.
According to an August report by the Century Foundation’s Andrew Stettner, “Politics, not economics, drove the attack on unemployment insurance.” The states that cut off the enhanced benefits before the federal expiration were mostly Republican-led.;
Arkansas, Indiana and Maryland were slated to cut off benefits early, but successful lawsuits forced those states to preserve the federal coverage, at least temporarily. In issuing their rulings, judges noted that the ending of benefits made it harder for the unemployed to afford basic needs. Lawsuits were also filed against state governors elsewhere, which were either denied by judges or are still held up in the courts.;
How Do I Update/change My Pin Number
To reset and establish a new PIN online, visit UI.ok.gov;and click the “Manage Claim” button. If you are unable to change your PIN online, please contact our Unemployment Service Center at 405-525-1500 or visit your nearest Oklahoma Works office. For resetting your debit card PIN, please contact our card vendor Conduent at 866-320-8699.
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What Is Pua And Who Is Eligible
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance was a federal unemployment benefit provided to US citizens not traditionally eligible for regular Unemployment Insurance such as self-employed, contract, and gig workers. PUA was established through the CARES Act , extended through CAA and ARP Acts , but discontinued in Oklahoma on 6/26/2021.
How To Stop An Unemployment Claim
If you find a job before your unemployment claim goes through, you may want to stop the claim to prevent the benefit year from starting. If you are already receiving unemployment and have found work, you are required to stop your unemployment claim once you begin working. Regardless of the reason why you need to stop an unemployment claim, you can do so on your own. The process of stopping an unemployment claim remains the same in each state.
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What Are The Effective Dates For Arp
This legislation picks up where the Continued Assistance Act left off, which ended 3/13/21. Individuals can begin receiving the new ARP benefits beginning 3/14/21. Under this legislation, the last week of unemployment for FPUC, PEUC, and PUA is the benefit week ending 9/4/21. There is no phase-out period under the American Rescue Plan.
Tracking Your Claim & Benefits
Claims Click My Account/Claim Status or call the Regional Claims Center for your area and when asked for the purpose of your call, say Claim Inquiry. These resources are available 24 hours a day to see if unemployment benefits have been paid, when they have been paid and how they have been paid. To see if benefits have been released to your debit card, check the DES resources first. Benefits are normally available on your debit card after 5:30 p.m. on the day they are released .
Benefits To check your debit card balance and view your entire transaction history visit;www.mo-access.com, or call 888-775-3445. You are allowed one free call using the automated voice response system.; Each additional call costs $.50. Contacting a customer service representative costs $3.00 per call. The Internet is always free.
Payment information is available two business days after you file your weekly request for payment for benefits.
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You Could Still Qualify For Partial Unemployment And The $600 Weekly Bonus Even If You’re Back At Work
If you take up a part-time job or get recalled with reduced hours, you may want to continue filing your weekly unemployment claim. You can earn, through other work, up to a certain amount of your unemployment benefit until your payment begins to decrease. You’ll also get the federal boost of $600 per week through the end of July.
In March 2020, unemployment benefits averaged $378 a week nationwide but ranged from a low of $211 in Louisiana to $557 in Massachusetts, according to the Center on Budget Policy and Priorities.;
States have their own way of calculating partial unemployment. In Texas, for example, you’ll subtract whatever you earned working from 1.25 times your normal state-provided benefit. Pennsylvania allows you to earn 30% of your unemployment benefit before it deducts the rest of your earnings from your payment.;New York pays partial benefits if you work less than four days in a week and earn $504 or less; unemployment pay drops by25%;for each day you work, regardless of how many hours you worked that day.
As your earnings go up, your unemployment benefit decreases until it reaches a point where you’re no longer eligible for assistance that week.
If Congress doesn’t extend relief efforts into 2021, you may no longer qualify for unemployment if you’ve already exhausted the amount provided by your state,;which ranges from 12 weeks to 28 weeks,;though many states also extend benefits during times of high unemployment.
Regaining Unemployment Benefits Once Canceled
If you qualify for unemployment benefits again after canceling your claim, then the process to get them back will depend on how long ago you canceled. You can often go to your state’s unemployment website or call the office to request to reopen the old claim if it’s been less than one year since you originally filed. Otherwise, you’ll usually need to start the full unemployment application process again.
Both methods will involve a similar process. For example, you’ll answer standard questions about your contact details, identity and past employment. Your state will also confirm what has caused your unemployment and ask about how much you’ve worked and earned. Your state will go through the investigative process again and send you a determination of benefits letter.
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The Biden Administration Has Offered A Productive Alternative Approachor Search And Reemployment Services
On May 10, President Biden outlined an alternative approach to help more unemployed workers connect with available job openings. The president directed the U.S. Department of Labor to work with states to reinstate standard unemployment insurance requirements related to searching for a new job, and accepting a suitable job offer.
Despite what opponents to pandemic benefits have said, jobless workers cant simply sit at home and collect benefits. While most states modified the typical federally mandated requirement to search for a job during the worst parts of the pandemic, the majority of states have reinstated rules that require recipients to be actively applying for new jobs. Given the progress of vaccine rollouts, it is legitimate progress to reinstate work search requirements with notable exceptions mentioned by the administration, like preserving benefits for those who do not have access to child care. This is an action that has been taken by Democratic governors, like Janet Mills of Maine, even before President Bidens speech.
Are Unemployment Benefits Taxable
All unemployment benefits are taxable. Individuals who filed for and received unemployment benefits will receive a 1099-G tax form from the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.;
When you file for unemployment, you have the option to choose to have taxes taken out at the time benefits are paid. If you opt to have the deductions taken out of your unemployment benefits, the standard deduction used is 10% for Federal taxes, and 3% for State taxes. When filing your yearly income taxes, you will include the 1099-G as part of your income documents and report accordingly.
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What Is Included In Arp
The American Rescue Plan added an extension to Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation claims that increases the number of benefit weeks available and extends the effective dates of these programs from 3/14/21 to 9/4/21.
This legislation also extended the $300 Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation weekly benefit for all claim types. Unlike the Lost Wage Assistance Program that ran between 8/1/20 and 9/5/20, these FPUC payments do not require the $100 minimum benefit amount. Claimants receiving any amount of benefits from UI, PEUC, or PUA are eligible for the weekly $300 for FPUC.
What If I Go Back To Work
- When you return to full-time work or want to stop requesting benefit payments for any reason, make your final request and then stop requesting. No notification is needed.
- If you start work at your new job in the middle of a week, report your hours worked and your earnings for the week, even if you haven’t been paid yet. You may be eligible to receive a partial benefit payment.
- Remember to report your hours worked and earnings for the week, even if you haven’t been paid yet.
- Make sure to keep your password and unemployment debit card in a safe place in case you need to start requesting benefits again.
- Keep the address on your account up-to-date for at least four years after your last request for a benefit payment. Even after you stop requesting benefits, your account may be audited or we may need to contact you for other reasons. If we can’t reach you, audit findings will be made without your input and you will be responsible for any overpayments that might result.
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Could Pandemic Benefits Be Renewed
White House officials made it clear they were not planning to continue the enhanced jobless benefits past the Labor Day expiration, saying they were intended to be temporary. When states began pulling out of pandemic-era unemployment programs early,;Labor Department officials;said their hands were tied and that they couldn’t counter decisions by governors.;
Meanwhile, given the uncertainties of COVID-19, new quarantine restrictions could be imposed, which could lead to more layoffs. President Joe Biden has passed the buck to the states, telling governors they can use recovery funds to help those struggling with unemployment.;
According to an Aug. 19;letter by Labor and Treasury Department officials, states can use $350 billion of pandemic funds that Congress allocated in the American Rescue Plan to continue paying unemployed workers. The letter says that in areas where unemployment remains high, “it may make sense for unemployed workers to continue receiving additional assistance for a longer period of time,” which would allow those individuals to find a job.;
It’s not clear at this time which states will choose to use any leftover pandemic funds to continue jobless benefits. According to a;CBS News report, not every state has shut the door to continuing some benefits, with some local officials reviewing options for providing assistance after the Labor Day expiration.;
Cut Unemployment Benefits Will Hit Workers Of Color The Hardest
There are significant racial consequences that will follow the decisions to eliminate federal pandemic benefits. Fifty percent of South Carolina Unemployment Insurance recipients are Black, as are 54 percent of Alabamians on UI and 66 percent of Mississippis claimant population, three times or more than the national average of 18 percent. The employers complaining the most about worker shortages are the ones that have depended on a largely disempowered, non-unionized, Black workforce that make low wages. The cut-offs affecting these states thus will particularly target Black communities that endured near or over 10 percent unemployment rates as recently as the end of September . Federal unemployment programs, like PUA and PUC, were put into place to make up for the economic inequities that high-unemployment communities have faced as a result of state policies . Moreover, Black Americans have been hit the hardest by the pandemic and have special reason to be reticent about returning to work in states that have reopened despite low vaccination rates. The governors who have made the move to cut off benefits have rejected the leveling impact of federal programs, subjecting their most vulnerable populations to greatly increased risk of poverty and COVID-19 infection.
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How Do I Apply For Unemployment Benefits
To apply for unemployment benefits, go to Uplink CSS, the online system for unemployment insurance claims or if you don’t have internet access, contact;your nearest full service WorkOne Career Center as soon as you become unemployed. You will be required to report your last employer’s name, mailing address, phone number & dates of employment as well as your address, social security number & phone number.
How To Stop Your Unemployment Benefits When You’re Called Back To Work
When you file for unemployment, you certify your claim weekly or bi-weekly by answering questions about your employment status and reporting any income you’ve earned during that time period. Your state’s department of labor then reviews your claim and releases payment;the following week.
Whether you’ll need to actively cancel your unemployment payments or simply stop certifying when you go back to work will depend on where you live, so it’s best to check with your state’s unemployment agency for specific guidance.
Unemployment offices in California and New York, for example, say they don’t require direct notice if you’ve gone back to work. In some cases, your claim will automatically close after a certain time period of inactivity.;
In other states, such as Pennsylvania, you’ll need to immediately report to your state agency;by phone or online that you’ve started a new job or are going back to work full-time.;A failure or delay in doing so could result in getting overpaid, says Michele Evermore, a senior policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project.
“One of the biggest reasons people get overpaid in unemployment is they don’t report to the agency right away and accidentally get a check during their first week back to work,” Evermore tells CNBC Make It. “Some states only require bi-weekly continued filing, so this could really trip up some workers.”
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What Is A Benefit Year
Your benefit year is the 52-week time period that your unemployment claim is considered active before you need to reapply. This starts when you first filed and were approved for unemployment benefits, and last for 52 weeks from when you were eligible. This does not necessarily mean you will be eligible for benefits all 52 weeks, which depends on your individual situation and federal extensions.;
How Do I File An Appeal Against A Decision That Was Made On My Claim
You can file an appeal in person, by mail, fax, telephone or email. Include your name, social security number, phone number, date of determination, section of law you are appealing and a detailed explanation of why you disagree with the decision. The mailing address, fax number, telephone number and email address will be listed on your determination.
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There Is Limited Evidence That Pandemic Ui Is Holding Back Job Creation
Outside of the minimum wage, the employment incentives of unemployment insurance have been one of the most studied issues in microeconomics. Unemployment benefits have a modest impact on the length of unemployment, with recent studies finding very modest elasticities between increases in unemployment benefit rates and the length of time unemployed. This includes a close comparison of neighboring counties in states that had access to ninety-nine weeks of unemployment during the great recession and those that did not. Careful economic research during the pandemic found that major changes in pandemic unemployment compensation, first from $600 to $300 in September, and then from $0 to $300 in January, had little impact either way on job finding rates. In particular, these studies contradict the conventional wisdom that non-college graduates and those getting the biggest boost in UI would be incentivized to stay home from work. For many, the COVID-19 pandemic has represented a uniquely temporary economic downturn. Transitory economic and public health barriers are driving many into unemployment and it is changes in these factors, not UI, that are largely driving the trend. To the extent that there are pockets of worker shortages, such as in the restaurant sector, its good news that employers are being forced to raise wages after months of reduced tips and high risks of infection from COVID-19 drove many away from these jobs.
What Is The Waiting Period And Why Is It Required
All individuals filing for unemployment are required to serve a one week waiting period per Oklahoma law . The first week individuals file a weekly certification during which all eligibility requirements are met will be considered the waiting period and will have no payments issued. This will not subtract from your total benefit amount.
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