HARTFORD, Conn — The COVID-19 pandemic has caused hundreds of thousands of people in Connecticut to lose their jobs, or lose work-hours; and that includes the self-employed.
April 30, The Connecticut Department of Labor announced it will begin accepting claim applications for the self-employed, but many have been stopped in the process.
Many self-employed individuals are eligible for unemployment benefits under the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.
After a delay, the red PUA button is now live on the Department of Labor's website.
DOL officials said in a press conference Wednesday that they were fixing a bug in its new system that would allow Connecticut's self-employed to successfully file claims.
Step 1: File a regular state claim at filectui.com and click on the blue button to file. Self-employed individuals who have already file an application through this system should not file again. The DOL already has claims and is asking you not to file a duplicate claim.
After filing, users will received two emails and then a piece of paper mail.
The Department of Labor will send you a UC-58.
Step 2: Go back to filectui.com and click on the "PUA button".
"It's an entirely new system that had to be stood up by scratch," Connecticut COO Josh Geballe said during Gov. Ned Lamont's Wednesday coronavirus briefing. "With any new system that's being stood up it has to be tested before it's deployed and in the final testing there was a bug that was encountered so they are fixing that so we hope to have that fixed and ready to launched very very soon," Geballe said.
The minimum benefit amount is $198 and will also add dependencies and the $600 federal plus up.
To qualify for more benefits up to $649 weekly including dependencies and the $600 federal plus up, you'll have to upload your tax returns and you eligibility amount will be adjusted.
If you did not file your taxes, yet, you can either (1) not increase from the $198 minimum or (2) in 21 days, you can give business documents to the DOL and they will adjust your benefit amount accordingly.
If you can attest to having a loss of work or a decline in full-time job back to February 2, you will get a retroactive payment.
Check back to FOX61 for more information on the unemployment process.