Extra Unemployment Pay To Start Next Week In Missouri

Missourians receiving unemployment insurance will receive an additional $600 a week as early as next week, according to the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

The $600 weekly federal supplement is part of the coronavirus aid package Congress passed in late March. Anyone receiving at least $1 of unemployment insurance in a week will receive the $600 supplement that week.

The supplement is all federal funds, and it will be paid on top of the state’s unemployment benefits, which are funded by a tax on Missouri employers. Missouri will make the payments retroactive for anyone who received benefits this week or last week, starting March 29. The supplement payments are currently set to end the week of July 25.

State officials had previously said they were waiting for federal guidance on how to implement the program, and that guidance came Sunday, according to the news release.

The department also received guidance on another part of the federal aid package, which created a separate unemployment program for people not eligible for regular benefits, including contractors, people who are self-employed and agricultural workers. That program will take longer to set up, according to the news release.

Only people who have lost their job due to no fault of their own are eligible for unemployment insurance benefits, so most people who quit or are fired for performance can’t receive benefits. If an employer offers employees paid leave instead of laying workers off, then someone who quits would not be eligible for unemployment insurance.

The department’s online portal is the best way to file unemployment insurance claims, and it’s available 24 hours a day. The department can also process claims over the phone at 573-751-9040.

The Labor Department suggests first consulting the department’s website — labor.mo.gov/coronavirus — which should give the same answers that staff are in a position to give on the same frequently asked questions without the wait that’s incurred over the phone.

You can also watch videos on applying for unemployment at labor.mo.gov/des/videos.

The department has waived the one-week waiting period, so anyone who is laid off should file their claim as soon as possible so their claim can be processed and benefits sent out quickly.

Newly unemployed Missourians filed 146,437 initial unemployment claims in the two weeks between March 8-21, more than 80 percent of the 179,831 initial claims filed in all of 2019.

The impacts of COVID-19 and social distancing are causing food service and hospitality businesses to lay off the most workers at a time they would typically be hiring for spring and summer tourism. People who lost work in food service, accommodation, manufacturing and retail account for 57 percent of the initial claims filed those two weeks in Missouri.

Few industries have avoided the impacts of COVID-19, but there are some jobs available in warehousing, retail and information technology, according to the Missouri Office of Workforce Development. The office is operating its job centers over the phone and can offer callers help with everything from filing benefit claims, to connecting with employers, to finding job-training programs. The phone number is 888-728-5627.