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Wanted to share my experience here for everyone since I use this forum daily for information...
Long story short, I am an independent contractor (1099 employee) working in the auto sales industry. As we all know auto sales has been basically shut down until further notice.
After reading the bill that was being signed into law, I decided to file a UI claim on March 26, the day before the act was actually signed by President Trump. I was emailed back on March 27 by the state DOL stating I was enrolled into an automatic payment plan for temporary shutdown, I searched and couldn't find any info about this, and I also have no way to contact anyone at the CT UI offices, all of their contact is pretty much closed down (no phones, no in person). When I filed my claim I followed their instructions on the site on what to enter for certain dates, employer ID (since I don't have one), and specific answers to questions on the claim. As a self employed individual I was pretty pessimistic about how this would work since its uncharted territory for the state offices. After receiving that email I saw nothing else as far as contact from the DOL.
Fast forward to this morning April 7, I logged into my DOL online account and see 2 payments for the CT max benefit backdated to the first week I filed, no additional $600 added on. This is great news except I do have a concern.
I have read that as a self employed individual my benefit should be half of whatever the average amount is in my state plus $600 from the federal govt. Does this mean they messed up and just gave me benefits as if I was not self employed? If so, who is the employer on the hook for this since I don't have one and just entered all 9s for employer ID?? Am I going to be shorted on the extra $600 because I filed before the act was signed into law?
This is very confusing and being that you cant contact anyone its even more difficult to figure out, I have a feeling they messed up and just processed my claim (one of among the 100s of thousands they received in the last couple weeks) as if I was a regular employed individual? My main concern is that I will be left out of the extra $600 and also that they may come after me sometime in the future for overpayment since I don't believe I qualify for what they gave me.
Any experiences in CT anyone can share would be appreciated!
Unfortunately, you're the first 1099 coming through the Connecticut system. It may be that they have not reduced those weeks, or it may be that they'll be paying them out at the max rate under PUA benefits (The Federal program that reimburses the state).
In every state that has started paying the $600 additional, that has shown as a separate line item, so perhaps there's a slight delay?
So far, not many states have actually started implementing the programs, so there's a ton of unknowns here.
Thanks for the reply Skipito, you are probably right, I think they are so overwhelmed right now that they are possibly just letting things go through that normally would be scrutinized, perhaps they went by my 2019 tax return for income purposes since I already filed it.
Thanks for the reply Skipito, you are probably right, I think they are so overwhelmed right now that they are possibly just letting things go through that normally would be scrutinized, perhaps they went by my 2019 tax return for income purposes since I already filed it.
What did you provide for income verification?
Have you received a benefits determination letter or email?
nothing at all, I applied, got the one email saying I was enrolled in an automatic payment program for temporary shut down and not to file weekly... that's it
Received my letter in the mail today with "determination of compensation" and they listed my former employer that I left last August 2019 and used my income from that job as a base rate.
Now this poses all kind of issues, I left that job in August of 2019 to become an independent contractor and work for another company, I left the previous employer on my own.
Does this mean they are going to be charged for my unemployment during this shutdown? If so, I am sure they will contest, and I think they would/should win. Does that mean I will have to pay all the benefits back even though I am technically eligible as a contractor?
When I applied I listed my employer as "self" and my employer ID as all 9's as instructed on the CT DOL website. I made no mention of this previous employer, I am reading on their FAQ that you will only qualify for PUA benefits which are federally funded if you are denied eligibility to regular unemployment benefits which I guess I technically qualify for since I did have a regular employer within the last year??
There is nobody to call to explain this situation to or to remedy the problem, I don't want money I don't qualify for only to have to go through the hassle later on of paying it back and trying to reapply for the PUA or change it over since the program could very well be over by then.
Any advice is appreciated! Is it possible they aren't charging back employers during this period?
You’ll be denied CT UI and kick over to PUA. You’ll have to provide your proof of income, etc and nobody will be charged.
That is how I think it should go, but since they approved my benefits already and started paying them how will that process work? My previous employer will have to appeal then go through that whole process first?
Theres a chance also they may not appeal it since nobody is in their office currently
Correct. Or CT DOL will just take the appeal and maybe kick it over to PUA behind the scenes.
Either way, you’re getting paid, you’re eligible for PUA so there’s no reason to worry. Just let it ride.
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