As I noted in a recent post, the US Senate and House finally passed HR4213 – the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2010 – and it was signed into law by President Obama on July 22, 2010. (I hate to get political on this but I’d encourage you to find out how your Representative voted on this here.) This bill extended Federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation or EUC from when it expired on June 2, 2010 until the end of November 2010 and those folks who have not exhausted all of their EUC and State-Federal Extended Benefits (or EB) should be eligible for retroactive benefits. This means that if your benefits stopped when the previous extension expired on June 2, you can claim claim benefits retroactive until then. Those who have exhausted their regular State benefits, the 3 Tiers of EUC available in NH, and EB will likely not be eligible for any further extension or benefits. 

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So a tiny bit of background – in NH, normal State unemployment benefits run a maximum of 26 weeks. Under normal economic circumstances, the 26 weeks would be all an unemployed worker would be eligible for. With the current economic conditions, Congress passed several bills to create (and later extend) so-called Federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation (the EUC  mentioned above). Federal EUC is comprised of Tiers which depend on the the unemployment rate in the State. NH currently has a slightly lower unemployment rate than some other States so NH qualifies for Tiers 1-3 of EUC.Tier 1 provides an additional 20 weeks of unemployment benefits, Tier 2 includes an additional 14 weeks, and Tier 3 provides a final 13 weeks of benefits.  Congress also passed what are called State-Federal Extended benefits which provide benefits for an additional 13 weeks. So in total, NH residents may be eligible for up to 86 weeks of unemployment (other States may be as high as 99 weeks).

So now How to File for the Extension – in short, call or visit your local NHES office and ask whether you are eligible as they will be able to look at your individual case and let you know almost immediately.  For past extensions, NHES also mailed out letters to individuals who were eligible for extensions but I would recommend calling or visiting the local NHES office to find out about your individual circumstances. Assuming you are generally eligible, you’ll file the green or blue form with NHES and undergo the same review process as regular unemployment claims. Once the claim is approved you’ll receive your weekly benefit amount (WBA) and paperwork to file your Continued Claims.

As usual, if there are questions, please leave a comment and I’ll do my best to answer.