Deadline For Wildfire Victims To Apply For Disaster Unemployment Assistance Is Friday
BUTTE COUNTY (CBS13) — Victims of the Camp Fire in Butte County, Hill Fire in Ventura County, and Woolsey Fire in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties have until Friday, March 15 to file for Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA).
With the federal disaster declaration on Jan. 15, the DUA benefits became available for victims of the Nov. 2018 fires.
The Employment Development Department said they will review DUA claims received after the March 15 deadline to determine if there was good cause for the delayed applications and whether the applicants are eligible for DUA benefits.
The benefits would apply for losses beginning the week of Nov. 11, 2018. And EDD said workers can receive benefits of up to $450 a week for a maximum of 27 weeks.
These unemployment insurance benefits are offered to victims of a disaster and available to individuals who meet one or more of the following criteria:
- Worked or were self-employed, or were scheduled to begin work or self-employment, in the disaster area.
- Cannot reach work because of the disaster and can no longer work or perform services because of physical damage or destruction to the place of employment as a direct result of the disaster.
- Can establish that the work or self-employment they can no longer perform is their primary source of income.
- Cannot perform work or self-employment because of an injury as a direct result of the disaster.
- Became the head of their households because of a death caused by the disaster.
- Have applied for and used all regular unemployment benefits from any state, or do not qualify for the regular benefits and remain unemployed as a direct result of the disasters.
You can learn more about available employment-assistance resources for wildfire victims here.