Visit the Federal COVID-19 information page.
CARES Act
On March 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law what is known as the CARES Act. This act creates emergency relief to unemployed workers affected by COVID-19. This act will provide Pandemic Unemployment Assistance to individuals who are self-employed and not eligible for regular Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits, Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation which provides an additional $600 payment for any eligible week of regular UI benefits, and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation which provides federal UI payments to someone who has exhausted all of their regular UI benefits. Alaska will continue to update our information concerning the CARES Act as it becomes available.
- Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) Q&A - NEW
- Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) Q&A
- Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) Q&A
- Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (PUA) Q&A
- PUA Handbook
Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) is a federal program funded by FEMA in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The $300 LWA payment will be distributed to eligible individuals once programming is completed. Payments will be retroactive to the week of July 26 through Sept. 5, 2020, for individuals who have already received UI payments for those weeks. Individuals will receive the additional $300 payment for each week filed if they are eligible to receive at least $100 or more of weekly UI or PUA benefits and are unemployed or partially unemployed due to COVID-19 disruption.
Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (PUA) is for small business owners, self-employed individuals, and unemployed or partially unemployed individuals not eligible for other state or federal unemployment insurance (UI) benefit programs and who are currently out of work due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
If you believe you may qualify for PUA benefits, the first step is to file a UI claim to determine you are not eligible for regular UI benefits. Once this application is complete you will receive a Monetary Determination letter that may state you are not eligible for UI benefits, but you should still file certifications each week through myAlaska, as instructed. To assist in moving the process forward, you can send your tax return or other wage documents for tax year 2019. These documents can be sent via email, fax, or U.S. postal mail.
Email: dol.pua@alaska.gov
Fax: (907) 465-2741
Mail:
ATTN: UI Support
P.O. Box 115509 Juneau, AK 99811-5509
