Maine Department of Labor will begin accepting Pandemic Unemployment Assistance applications this Friday, May 1. Pandemic Unemployment Assistance is a new federal program which expanded eligibility for unemployment benefits to certain categories of workers not typically able to receive unemployment in the past, such as self-employed and those who did not have enough earnings to qualify for state unemployment.

People whose claim doesn’t require further review should begin receiving benefits within seven days from filing.

All claims will be retroactive to the date of business closure or job separation provided on the application, back until March 15. If work was lost earlier than that due to COVID-19, claimants will be able to provide documentation to show that in the near future.

To apply, you should do the following (no earlier than Friday):
• If you have been denied unemployment benefits due to not having enough earnings to qualify for state benefits, you DO NOT need to reapply. Your claim is in the system and will automatically process.
• If you are self-employed and attempted to file for unemployment benefits before PUA was implemented, you must log-in to your online unemployment account and update your claim with your self-attestation of earnings for 2018 or 2019.
• If you are eligible for PUA but have not yet filed a claim, fill out the new streamlined application form for PUA. The application will become available on Friday.

More information on PUA and instructions on how to apply is on our website: https://www.maine.gov/unemployment/pua/.will begin accepting Pandemic Unemployment Assistance applications this Friday, May 1. Pandemic Unemployment Assistance is a new federal program which expanded eligibility for unemployment benefits to certain categories of workers not typically able to receive unemployment in the past, such as self-employed and those who did not have enough earnings to qualify for state unemployment.

People whose claim doesn’t require further review should begin receiving benefits within seven days from filing.

All claims will be retroactive to the date of business closure or job separation provided on the application, back until March 15. If work was lost earlier than that due to COVID-19, claimants will be able to provide documentation to show that in the near future.

To apply, you should do the following (no earlier than Friday):
• If you have been denied unemployment benefits due to not having enough earnings to qualify for state benefits, you DO NOT need to reapply. Your claim is in the system and will automatically process.
• If you are self-employed and attempted to file for unemployment benefits before PUA was implemented, you must log-in to your online unemployment account and update your claim with your self-attestation of earnings for 2018 or 2019.
• If you are eligible for PUA but have not yet filed a claim, fill out the new streamlined application form for PUA. The application will become available on Friday.

More information on PUA and instructions on how to apply is on the Maine Department of Labor's website.