It’s been a long wait, but unemployed workers will finally see a boost to their bank accounts.
The Labor Department said it has “successfully processed the $300 FEMA payments.”
“The file was transmitted to the bank, and eligible claimants can expect to receive a lump-sum payment over the next couple of days, depending on their bank,” Labor spokeswoman Angela Delli-Santi said late Wednesday. “We transfer payment files to Bank of America, the state’s bank, then BOA disperses the payments to the direct deposit accounts and debit cards of claimants.”
The $300 supplemental unemployment payments were mandated by an executive order by President Trump to partially replace the $600 federal payments that expired this summer.
Workers had been expecting the payments to come early this week, based on a statement by Gov. Phil Murphy. But as of Wednesday, there were no payments.
Earlier Wednesday, the Labor Department said there were delays because of the computer system.
“Processing these payments required new programming that had not previously been tested, and it is taking longer than anticipated for these payments to go through,” Delli-Santi said.
“Early this morning, we intentionally took down our unemployment certifying application to consolidate resources into making the $300 payments,” she said. “People who miss their weekly certification window can certify during any of the make-up times. We are working around the clock to serve all our customers, and to get these $300 payments to all eligible unemployed workers.”
The certification system was back online in the late morning.
The state said about 842,000 workers are eligible for at least some payment from the program, called the Lost Wage Assistance or LWA.
To qualify, a worker had to receive at least $100 in unemployment benefits during the weeks ending Aug. 1 through Sept. 5. They would get $300 a week for as many as six weeks, or a maximum of $1,800.
Workers who already attested they lost their jobs because of a coronavirus-related reason don’t have to do anything to get the benefit, the Labor Department said earlier this month. Others received emails instructing them to certify that they were unemployed because of COVID-19.
Workers are asking why it is taking so long, especially as they’ve seen people in neighboring New York and Pennsylvania receive benefits since the middle of September.
Because the funding comes from a FEMA disaster relief fund and not from an unemployment fund, the state isn’t permitted by federal rules to use existing unemployment systems or employees to distribute the funds. The state previously said it would take some time to process the payments.
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Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com.
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