In addition to assistance that may otherwise be available directly through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, State unemployment insurance, labor and workforce agencies administer disaster unemployment assistance (DUA) for individuals who have become unemployed due to a disaster emergency declaration by the President.
DUA applications may be available for individuals through state agencies to provide support payments in impacted states. This program has the following qualification and eligibility requirements.
QUALIFYING FOR DUA
One of the following conditions of unemployment must have occurred as a direct result of the disaster to qualify for DUA:
- The individual has had a week of unemployment following the date the major disaster began;
- The individual is unable to reach his/her place of employment;
- The individual was scheduled to start work and the job no longer exists or the individual was unable to reach the job;
- The individual became the breadwinner or major support because the head of the household died as a direct result of the disaster; or
- The individual cannot work because of an injury caused as a direct result of the disaster.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
In order to be eligible for DUA, individuals who meet one of the qualifying conditions above must also meet all the following eligibility requirements:
- The individual is not eligible for regular UI;
- The individual is unemployed as a direct result of the disaster;
- The individual is able and available for work, unless injured as a direct result of the disaster;
- The individual filed an application for DUA within 30 days of the date of the public announcement of the availability of DUA; and
- The individual has not refused an offer of employment in a suitable position.
WHEN AND WHERE TO FILE FOR DUA
In the event of a disaster, the affected state will publish announcements about the availability of DUA. To file a claim, individuals who are unemployed as a direct result of the disaster should contact their State Unemployment Insurance agency.
USDOL provides an overview of the program requirements at https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/disaster.asp.
Attached is a PDF copy of the DUA Fact Sheet provided by US DOL.
Below are links to disaster related information from Florida and South Carolina.
Florida
For Florida, if employers are unable to respond timely to the Notice of Claim Filed and reside in or do business in the declared disaster counties, they are encouraged to state on the document they were delayed in responding due to Hurricane Helene (and the upcoming Hurricane Milton). This will ensure those employers affected will not be penalized for untimely responses. Please see below for helpful links for Florida.
https://floridajobs.org/floridadisaster.biz/recover-2/sba—small-business-loans
South Carolina
Here is the link to the SC resource page on the state website:
Additionally, here is a link to the latest press release from last week with additional application instructions:
