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Department of Labor and Workforce Development
 
Office of the Commissioner

Labor Issues Eligibility Details On New Federal Ui Benefits

Mar. 21, 2002
No. 02-22

Those Who Exhaust UI May Get More under New Federal Extension

Recent passage of a national economic stimulus bill means numerous jobless Alaskans may be eligible for 13-weeks of additional unemployment insurance benefit payments, beyond Alaska's Extended Benefits, under the new Temporary Extension of Unemployment Compensation (TEUC) program, Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development Ed Flanagan announced today.

"With this new federal program put into action just last week, 13 more weeks of unemployment payments are available to those who qualify," said Flanagan.

The new extension is in addition to the Extended Benefits program in effect since February 24, 2002 in Alaska. Extended Benefits pays 13 extra weeks of benefits to workers who run out of their regular UI payments as it normally does this time of year in Alaska. However, the new provision offered as part of the federal economic stimulus package has different eligibility criteria than the Extended Benefits program.

The new Temporary Extension of Unemployment Compensation program's basic criteria for eligibility are: a worker must have an established unemployment insurance claim with a benefit year ending on or after March 15, 2001; workers must be less than fully employed; and, workers must have no rights to unemployment benefits under any other program.

The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development is sending letters of instruction to those they identified as potentially eligible for the Temporary Extension of Unemployment Compensation benefits. In the meantime, unemployed workers who believe they may be eligible for the new benefit extension should contact their local UI Call Center to file (in Anchorage 269-4700; in Fairbanks 451-2871; and in Juneau 465-5552). Potential claimants in other areas may call toll-free 1-888-252-2557.

For information about Alaska's UI program and the new Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation provision, contact Chuck Blankenship, assistant director, Unemployment Insurance, at (907) 465-5930, or email.

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