PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — The Virginia Employment Commission sent out a reminder on Friday that the additional $300 federal unemployment supplement and other assistance programs from federal coronavirus aid packages will expire in September.
The benefits end on Sept. 4.
The benefits being cut are the $300 supplement, which is called the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), along with Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which gives benefits to those unemployed due to COVID-19 and are not eligible for regular unemployment or Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC). The Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation (MEUC) is also being affected.
The programs were first started with the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020 and later extended through the Continued Assistance Act (CAA) of 2021 and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021. There’s little chance the benefits will be extended beyond September despite rising virus levels throughout the country.
VEC, which has struggled to issue unemployment payments throughout the pandemic, says it will process the benefits for all weeks ending on or before the Sept. 4 cutoff. If a claim isn’t approved until after that Sept. 4 cutoff, the claimant will be paid the federal benefits they’re owed despite the cutoff.
The VEC says it’s already started to notify those receiving aid that the benefits are expiring. For information on resources for job seekers, click here.
