Distribution of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance funds announced

The state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations announced Tuesday the staggered distribution of funds to claimants of current unemployment insurance programs including the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.

With the assistance of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, the DLIR received approval to pay six weeks of benefits from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The program will pay $300 a week to all eligible claimants who have a weekly benefit amount of $100 or more in unemployment insurance benefits. The program is a grant with a finite amount of funding that only includes benefits for six weeks from the week ending Aug. 1 to the week ending Sept. 5.

“Any additional funds to help unemployed workers are welcome — and we estimate that this will provide more than $370 million to families, individuals and our state’s economy,” said DLIR Director Anne Perreira-Eustaquio. “It is important to emphasize, however, that this benefit is currently time-limited to only a six-week period … and not everyone who has filed an unemployment claim will be eligible.”

Benefits generally take three business days to be deposited after issuance by the DLIR. Starting this week, a week’s worth of benefits will go out every week and for the next five weeks as follows:

• Payment for the week ending Aug. 1, should be made Sept. 23-25.

• Payment for the week ending Aug. 8 should be made Sept. 29-Oct. 2.

• Payment for week ending Aug. 15 should be made Oct. 6-8.

• Payment for the week ending Aug. 22 should be made Oct. 13-15.

• Payment for the week ending Aug. 29 should be made Oct. 20-22.

• Payment for the week ending Sept. 5 should be made Oct. 27-29.

Individuals with pending issues preventing payment will not receive the additional $300 per week if they are allowed benefits after the program has ended.

For more information, visit https://labor.hawaii.gov/covid-19-labor-faqs/.