[StBernard] Disaster Unemployment Assistance available for victims of Hurricane Isaac

[Westley Annis]

Disaster Unemployment Assistance available for victims of Hurricane Isaac

 

The Louisiana Workforce Commission announced that people whose jobs have
been lost or interrupted because of the disaster in the parishes eligible
for FEMA's individual disaster assistance as a result of Hurricane Isaac
also are eligible for Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA).

 

Those parishes are St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Lafourche, Livingston,
Ascension, Orleans, Jefferson, St. John the Baptist and St. Tammany.

 

Those eligible must file DUA applications by October 2, 2012.  The DUA
program, federally funded but administered by the LA Workforce Commission
(LWC), is now accepting claims and will continue until the end of the 30-day
filing period.

 

The LWC is accepting all unemployment insurance claims at www.laworks.net
<http://www.laworks.net/> .  People without internet access or who
experience trouble filing online can call 1-866-783-5567.

 

The LWC's Business and Career Solutions Centers have computers available for
people to file claims.  The LWC staff is also available to assist job
seekers and employers.

 

To receive DUA benefits, individuals must provide their Social Security
number, proof of wages, and proof of employment, including the name and
address of the last employer to the LWC.  Proof of employment must be
received within 21 days from the filing date of the claim.  Self-employed
individuals must provide their business and financial records, including
federal income tax returns for 2011.




DUA is available to individuals for weeks of unemployment beginning
September 8, 2012 through March 2, 2013, as long as the claimant's
unemployment continues to be a result of Hurricane Isaac.  DUA benefits will
not be paid for any period of unemployment before or after these dates.

Before an individual can be determined eligible for DUA, it must be
established that the individual is not eligible for regular unemployment
insurance benefits or extended unemployment compensation (under any state or
federal law).

DUA is available to unemployed U.S. nationals and qualified aliens who
worked or were self-employed if they:

*	Worked or were self-employed in or were scheduled to begin work or
self-employment in an area declared as a federal disaster area;
*	Can no longer work or perform services because of physical damage or
destruction to the place of employment as a direct result of a disaster;
*	Establish that the work or self-employment they can no longer
perform was their primary source of income;
*	Do not qualify for regular unemployment insurance benefits from any
state;
*	Cannot perform work or self-employment because of an injury, or
because they were incapacitated as a direct result of the disaster;
*	Became the breadwinner or major support of a household because of
the death of the head of the household;
*	Cannot work or perform self-employment due to closure of a facility
by the federal government;
*	Lose a majority of income or revenue because the employer or
self-employed business was damaged, destroyed, or closed by the federal
government.

Suffering a monetary loss because of damage to property or crops does not
automatically entitle an individual to DUA.