Ohio extends unemployment benefits during COVID-19 pandemic

COLUMBUS – Ohio will expand unemployment benefits for up to 20 weeks for people who exhaust both regular unemployment benefits and the extra 13 weeks provided by the federal coronavirus stimulus bill.

Freelancers and others newly eligible for unemployment under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act can receive assistance for an additional seven weeks.

States can extend benefits when the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate hits 8 percent and is 110% higher than the same period in either of the past two years. Forty-nine states have hit that threshold after the new coronavirus forced closures of many businesses.

Ohio workers are eligible for up to 26 weeks of unemployment benefits. The CARES Act, passed in March, made 13 additional weeks available due to pandemic-related closures through Dec. 26, 2020.

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Ohioans who exhaust those 39 weeks will be eligible for an additional 20 weeks, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services announced Monday. Ohio similarly extended benefits during the recession.

The agency will begin notifying people eligible for extended benefits this week. They will have to reapply through the “File a New Claim for Extended Benefits" link on the website. 

"Although high unemployment rates are never welcome news, we are happy that we can offer this extra support for Ohioans who are unemployed through no fault of their own and who are having difficulty finding work," Ohio Job and Family Services Director Kimberly Hall said in a news release.

Separately, the CARES Act created a Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program that provides up to 39 weeks of benefits to self-employed workers, 1099 tax filers, part-time workers, and workers without sufficient work history to qualify under regular state rules. Those workers will be eligible for an additional seven weeks of unemployment, agency spokesman Bret Crow said.

The extended benefits will end early if Ohio's situation improves and unemployment falls below the threshold.

The CARES Act also provided an extra $600 to unemployed workers, which ends July 25 in Ohio. That program has not yet been renewed.