The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development is warning the approximately 30,000 unemployment claimants who are receiving federally extended unemployment insurance that they are facing the abrupt end of those benefits when the program expires Wednesday.
Congress created the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) program in 2008 to provide unemployment benefits to workers who have exhausted the first 26 weeks of state benefits (maximum). The original legislation has been amended 10 times since it became effective July 6, 2008.
“We want to alert claimants that they are fast approaching the end of federal extended benefits,” said Labor Commissioner Karla Davis. “EUC08 assistance was created as a stopgap measure for the long-term jobless until they could get work. With that ending in a couple weeks, we encourage claimants to use Jobs4TN.gov and to visit one of our Career Centers across the state for help in finding jobs.”
The last payable week for all claimants receiving EUC08 federal benefits will be the week ending Dec. 29, meaning claimants will certify for that week and receive their last payment the first week of January. All claimants in the EUC08 program — no matter how many weeks they were initially notified they would receive, what tier of EUC they are in, or the amount of balance in that tier — will receive their last EUC08 payment during the first week of January.
Ater Wednesday, Tennessee will return to the system in which an approved new claim could have a maximum of up to 26 weeks of Tennessee Unemployment Compensation benefits.
Additional updates will be provided on the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development website at www.tn.gov/labor-wfd.
Jobs4TN.gov is a database of more than 90,000 jobs from job orders placed directly by Tennessee employers as well as job from major job search engines corporate sites. Once registered, jobseekers can connect with employers and be notified when jobs for which they are qualified are posted.
The Tennessee Career Centers are a network of offices across the state where job seekers can get assistance and career information. Each center offers Internet access, workshops, job placement, recruitment, and training referrals.