Department of Labor Staff to Deploy to Disaster Areas to Register Impacted New Yorkers
Federal disaster unemployment
assistance is now available to all New Yorkers who lost their jobs as a result
of Hurricane Sandy.
Disaster unemployment benefits
are available to provide financial support to anyone who has lost their job and
live or work in the Bronx, Kings, New York, Richmond, Queens, Nassau, Suffolk,
Rockland and Westchester counties.
This assistance will supplement New York’s existing unemployment insurance system and will expand eligibility to include individuals who might otherwise not be covered.
The United States Department of Labor has committed to providing additional assistance if needed.
“The physical destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy has been terrible, and the resulting job losses can be even more painful for New Yorkers,” Governor Cuomo said.
“These federal funds will quickly
provide financial assistance to those whose livelihoods have been upended. I
urge impacted New Yorkers to apply as soon as possible.”
Department of Labor staff will be deployed to hard-hit communities to help register impacted New Yorkers for Disaster Unemployment Assistance in person.
Anyone unemployed due to Hurricane Sandy is immediately eligible and can submit a claim to the Department of Labor.
The criterion for collecting
disaster assistance is broader than for collecting regular unemployment benefits.
Specifically, an individual can collect disaster assistance in any of the
following cases:
Injured in
the disaster and unable to work, whether the person is an employee or
self-employed.
Workplace
is damaged, or destroyed, or the person cannot work because of the disaster.
Transportation to work
is not available because of the disaster.
Cannot get
to work because must travel through the affected area, which is impossible due
to disaster.
Planned to begin
working, but cannot because of the disaster.
Derived
most of income from areas affected by the disaster, and business is closed or
inoperable because of the disaster.
Examples of self-employment include small business owners, independent taxi drivers, vendors, independent commercial fisherman, and farmers.
State Department of Labor
Commissioner Peter M. Rivera stated, “These people want to work and are unable
to because of circumstances far beyond their control. This money will directly
help workers who have families to feed and bills to pay. Contact the Department
of Labor and we will determine which program you qualify for.”
To apply for unemployment benefits or disaster unemployment assistance, those affected by the storm and have lost their job or income should call the Telephone Claims Center (TCC) at 1-888-209-8124, or 1-877-358-5306 if they live out of state.
Applicants should answer the
questions to indicate they lost their job due to Hurricane Sandy. In order to
receive benefits you must apply by December 3, 2012.
Image courtesy of http://www.angelfire.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment