How to Get Financial Assistance from the Government
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a record unemployment rate in the U.S. Businesses were forced to temporarily close to protect our health, which ultimately led to permanent closures and devastating job loss. In the short time between March of 2020 and May of 2020, the country lost 20.6 million jobs. This resulted in an unemployment rate of 14.7%, a percent that hadn’t been seen since the Great Depression in the 1930s.
This spike in unemployment has brought about an unprecedented number of questions in the minds of Americans. For example, some Americans have found themselves suffering from unemployment and a work injury at the same time. This leads them to wonder whether they can collect unemployment benefits and workers’ compensation at once, and what their best plan of attack would be.
Typically, injured workers cannot collect unemployment benefits and workers’ compensation at the same time. This is because unemployment benefits and workers’ compensation are designed for two distinct purposes. In most states, workers are eligible for unemployment benefits if their earnings meet certain cut-offs in terms of their hours or wages, if they were laid off, quit for a good cause, or were fired for anything besides misconduct. Unemployment benefits are designed to support you while you look for a job. On the contrary, those who are receiving workers’ compensation are usually not unemployed, but there are always exceptions.
The government pays workers’ compensation when you are unable to work due to an injury that happened on the job. There are only a few instances when you would be able to collect unemployment benefits and workers’ compensation at the same time. For example, if you are seeking work that is irrespective of the workers’ compensation injury, there is a chance you would be able to collect both. An example of a situation where this could apply would be a worker who was injured as a firefighter but who is looking for employment as a security guard. In that case, they could be eligible for both forms of benefits.
Some states specifically prohibit you from seeking unemployment benefits and workers’ compensation at the same time, but New York is not one of those states. Eligibility for both types of benefits in New York can happen if you are being paid at a partial disability rate from workers’ compensation and you have shown that you are ready, willing, and able to work.
One important disclaimer is that you cannot collect more than your Average Weekly Wage, even if you are collecting both benefits at the same time. Typically, an Average Weekly Wage is equal to the amount of compensation an employee earns in a 52-week period prior to the injury that created the need for workers’ compensation, divided by 52. This means that if your Average Weekly wage is set at $500 per week, your unemployment benefits will decrease if you are collecting more than this amount from all of your financial assistance. Your workers’ compensation will be set first and your unemployment benefits will be set in accordance with that.
If you were injured on the job and require financial assistance such as workers’ compensation, the personal injury attorneys at Belushin Law Firm, P.C. can help. Give us a call at (888) 918-9890 or contact us online to get started.