On July 22, 2010, President Obama signed legislation making Emergency Unemployment Compensation and Extended Benefits available through December 1, 2010 with applicable phase-out periods as detailed in the chart below.  The Emergency Unemployment Compensation and Extended Benefits programs had expired in May and June.

• This bill would only extend the date by which people can apply for EUC benefits. It would not add any weeks of benefits.
• Individuals who exhausted regular Unemployment Insurance benefits since the programs expired may now file for Emergency Unemployment Compensation.
• Individuals who were receiving Emergency Unemployment Compensation and exhausted their benefit "tier," may be eligible for additional Emergency Unemployment Compensation or Extended Benefits.
• The legislation did not include an extension of Federal Additional Compensation (FAC), an additional $25.00 added to weekly unemployment benefit payments, for new claims.  However, FAC will still be paid on claims filed on or before May 23, 2010 through December 11, 2010.

The chart below provides basic information about the various benefit programs, benefit tiers, application deadlines and expiration dates affected by this recent legislation.

Part-Time Work

The legislation includes provisions that allow individuals who accept part-time or temporary work while claiming benefits to choose to continue receiving extended benefits under certain circumstances even when they qualify for regular Unemployment Insurance benefits based on their part-time or temporary work.

Retroactive Payments

All claimants whose weekly claims certifications are up-to-date will be issued retroactive U.I. Extension Benefits payments beginning this Saturday, July 31^st. By Wednesday, August 4^th, 50,000 payments will have been issued. For the remaining claimants, we will continue our outreach by telephone and mailings to assist them in updating their claims and getting their payments processed. Claimants should be aware that it may take several days for paper checks to be received or financial institutions to process direct deposits.

How to File

1. If you did not stop claiming weeks, continue to claim benefits weekly on the web atwww.mass.gov/dua/webcert or by calling the TeleCert Line at 1-617-626-6338.
    
     OR

2. If you stopped claiming weeks while you were unemployed, call the DUA TeleClaims Center at1-888-998-8418 to reopen your extended benefits claim. Hours for telephone filing are Monday - Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; and Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Our offices will be closed on Saturday, August 7 to enable the system upgrades that will allow these payments to be made.  To ensure that everyone can reach an agent without experiencing long wait times or busy signals, please adhere to this schedule.