Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC)

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the CARES Act, which includes the Relief for Workers Affected by Coronavirus Act set out in Title II, Subtitle A.  Section 2107 of the CARES Act creates a new temporary federal program called Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) that provides up to 13 additional weeks of benefits to individuals who have established a regular unemployment claim with a benefit year ending on or after July 1, 2019 and who either exhausted their entitlement or whose benefit year has expired.  The PEUC program is in effect from March 29, 2020 to December 31, 2020.

If you meet the requirements described below, you may be eligible for PEUC.

• You must be currently unemployed
• If you are working less than full-time, your gross earnings must be less than the weekly benefit amount.
• You must have exhausted all rights to regular unemployment benefits or the benefit year on your regular claim must have expired on or after July 1, 2019.
• You are not eligible to receive regular unemployment benefits in Hawaii, another state or Canada.
• You must be able to work, available to work, and actively seeking work (currently the requirement to actively seek work has been temporarily waived during Covid-19).

All eligibility and filing requirements that apply to regular unemployment insurance benefits will apply to a PEUC claim.  You can apply for PEUC after your benefits are exhausted (balance = 0) or expired.

Next Step:  Log in to your account at uiclaims.hawaii.gov and click on the PEUC link provided.

How to Apply:  PEUC-How to Apply