FEDERAL EXTENDED EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION 2012 – UPDATED INFORMATION
If you are trying to figure out whether your unemployment benefits will be extended in 2012 you should know that it is very complicated and confusing. Millions of people are forecast to lose their benefits in 2012 unless new Federal legislation is voted on and approved which has not happened yet.
First of all, each of the 50 states handles its own benefits so you need to start there. Go to Google Search and type in your state followed by something like “extended unemployment benefits” and that should get you to your state’s department of labor website. Once you are there, read everything you find carefully so that you can better understand what is happening in your state. Many states have updated information on their websites but again, each state has its own rules, dates, and programs so it is not the same for everyone.
Most states give you between 24 and 26 weeks of unemployment compensation and it varies state to state because some have more money than others. After you have used up your state unemployment benefits you have to qualify for extended emergency unemployment compensation (EUC) from the Federal government of up to 99 weeks. Those additional weeks are what everyone is stressing about because that runs out at the end of 2011. If you lost your job during the second half of 2011, you probably won’t qualify for the federal extended benefits unless something is done to pass new legislation.
As of today 11/21/2011, Congress has NOT voted on any extensions and NOT passed new legislation that would keep the emergency unemployment compensation going into 2012. However, all hope is not lost because on November 3rd 2011, the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act was introduced which if passed, would extend the federal unemployment benefits program all the way through 2012. With the Democrats in control of the presidency and the Senate, hopefully this extended benefits crises can be averted so that those who need the extensions into 2012 can get them.
Remember, there may be filing deadlines, eligibility periods, different tiers of benefits, and all sorts of other rules that you have to try to sift through to understand what is going on in your state but that is the first place to go to find out all the up to day information that will apply to you.
