Vivinavi : Hawaii : (United States) Hawaii

• newbie
• 2021/07/26 (Mon) 17:20
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Hi MINO, ！

I did the same, the first 2 weeks after the extension （ 7/10 and 7/17 ） remained Pending and no movement, so I contacted the call center to make sure, and the operator immediately responded and （ I didn't have to go through the manager and in less than a minute ） it was switched to Processed that night.

It seemed to be a system problem, not a flaw in our conditions, etc.

As sunset said, I was told to DISREGARD the letter itself as it was based on conventional criteria. I just confirmed today that we received the deposit and will share it with you as an update.

• ひろぽん
• 2021/07/27 (Tue) 16:36
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Dear Sunset/Unemployment Insurance Help Team

Thank you for all the valid information you provide.

I have one question and emailed you.

I have been temporarily laid off since 4/2 last year. I have not worked since my termination, but this year I received an email from UI asking me to do an InitialClaim as the company has paid me for last year's bonus.
I called UI and sent the bonus statement as instructed, and the payment was immediately restored. On the other hand, my colleague could not contact UI, so she gave up and did an Initia Claim, and she got paid the same way. She said that after she did this Initia Claim, the payment expired 7/15/22. She said that since I can claim the past 18 months of income, the payment is calculated based on my salary from last January. When I do another InitialClaim in September, the base of my salary will be much less, because 18 months means that the base will be from last March. Does this mean that I should have made an InitialClaim this time ？ If so, is it possible to make another InitialClaim ？

I know you are busy, but if you know anything, please let me know. I would appreciate it if you could tell me if you know.

• sunset
• mail
• 2021/07/27 (Tue) 23:11
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Hi Hiropon,
To those of you who have the same question,

I just reconfirmed this with the Unemployment Insurance Help Team. Please understand that we will only share what we know because the federal congress has not yet made a decision regarding September and beyond.

The rules for this PEUC extension program are as per this Topic #300 （ Title: September Extension Switch ） Anne, the UI Director, also officially announced these rules in her interview video.

In addition, as announced in #362 of this topic, the unemployment insurance you have been receiving is not included in your past earnings （ wages ）. In other words, unemployment insurance is not used to calculate the WBA.

We hope you will read the following with the above in mind.

"I have been in a temporary layoff situation since last 4/2. I have not worked since that date, but this year, the company paid me a bonus for last year. I received an email from UI at the end of June asking me to file an Initial Claim. I called UI and emailed them my bonus statement as instructed, and my payment was immediately restored."
↑
This arrangement is correct because the rule is that those who have not worked since they first applied for unemployment insurance are not required to file an Initial Claim during the PEUC September extension program.

"On the other hand, a colleague of mine in the exact same situation gave up and filed an Initial Claim after her phone was completely disconnected, and she was paid the same way. She said that the due date after she made this Initial Claim is 7/17/22.
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By "same situation" do you mean that the dates of my termination are the same and I have never worked since I first applied for unemployment insurance? ）

Did your co-worker's WBA change after she filed a File an Initial Claim ？ If her WBA did not change at all, the UI office should have cancelled her File an Initial Claim. File an Initial Claim, then the UI office should have cancelled the application.

If the WBA has not changed at all and the Benefit Year End is still 2022, then it is possible that the UI office made a simple mistake in setting it up.

As many people have shared in this topic, in the "March → June PEUC Extension", the Benefit Year End deadline was in June, September, or 2022 in various cases. We do not know the reason why this is so, and can only say that it is a mysterious system phenomenon.

Sometimes, mysterious phenomena occur because the system on the UI office side is not yet ready. For example, there have been several cases where the WBA should not have increased based on past income （ wages ） but increased by $100 after filing an Initial Claim （ This was followed up by the UI office and the refund was later requested as an Overpayment. This is likely to be followed up by the UI office and a refund request as an overpayment ）. There was also a curious case in which an individual who had worked after first applying for unemployment insurance was automatically granted a PEUC extension and no longer needed to apply for File an Initial Claim.

Many people misunderstand that the "Benefit Year End Deadline" is not a promise of benefits, but rather a period of time during which you can use your UI account. As evidence of this, the account balance should not be available until 2022. At most, it should be for 26 weeks.

Will there be a new unemployment insurance program starting in September ？ or will we go back to the pre-Corona unemployment insurance rules ？ It all depends on Congressional action. For example, it will be up to Congress to decide what the rules will be for beneficiaries who have filed a File an Initial Claim and thus have a new WBA and a Benefit Year End date of 2022.

"I also have to make another Initial Claim in September, but then I can only claim from last March's wages, which will be very unfavorable for the WBA calculation. ？
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From what I have seen in the past, it seems that some recipients who do not need to file an Initial Claim have inadvertently done so and as a result, their UI accounts have been frozen. The overwhelming majority of the time, the account is frozen. If it freezes, you must have the call center correct it. Please re-read this topic as several people have shared cases where they have accidentally filed a File an Initial Claim application （ #324 is a typical case ）.

The Unemployment Insurance Help Team says, "If you have never worked since you first applied for unemployment insurance in March or April due to the pandemic, even if you apply for File an Initial Claim now, your past earnings （ wages ） will not be disqualified. If they do not meet the requirements, they will be Disqualified （ and disqualified from Unemployment Insurance ）. Also, if you decide to return to the pre-Corona unemployment insurance rules in September, you will be Disqualified for September as well.

As a side note, the Unemployment Insurance Help Team has repeatedly urged locals to find work before September because the chances of being Disqualified in September are very high.

That's all for now, but until the federal congress decides about September and beyond, we have to follow the current rules.

• ひろぽん
• mail
• 2021/07/28 (Wed) 18:21
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Sunset

Thank you for your prompt reply.

The following is my response to your question in your reply.

By "same situation", do you mean that the date of termination was the same and you have never worked since you first applied for unemployment insurance? It will no longer be ）
⬆️yes. I was temporarily laid off on the exact same day, I have never worked since I first applied for unemployment insurance, and the date and amount of my bonus was paid out was exactly the same.

Did your co-worker's WBA change after she applied for File an Initial Claim ？ If her WBA did not change at all, the UI office should have cancelled that File an Initial Claim application.
⬆️My colleague's WBA has decreased by about $ 9. And it looks like the amount and expiration date for 26 weeks was 7/15/22.
I think I contributed to the calculation of the WBA because I was working and was paid from January - March 2020 and I also received bonuses and other payments from the company last year at that time. I am in the same position as her, so I think it would be very different if I could claim for January-February when the WBA is calculated in September, or if I could only claim from March.

However, as per the reply I received from Sunset, I will wait for the decision of the Congress. I pray that the company will contact me before then to let me know that I will be reinstated.

Sunset, thank you so much for always taking your time to help us. Thank you, thank you.

Please take good care of yourself.

• sunset
• mail
• 2021/07/28 (Wed) 20:41
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Thank you for your reply.

"My colleague's WBA was reduced by about $ 9. And it looks like the amount and expiration date for the 26 weeks was 7/15/22...I was working and getting paid from January - March 2020, and I also received bonuses and other payments from the company last year at that time, so I think I may have contributed to the calculation of his WBA."
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I see, so the $25 difference rule resulted in the new WBA.

"I'm in the same position as she is, so when I calculate the WBA in September, I think the conditions will be very different if I can claim for Jan-Feb as well, or if I can only claim from March... I hope UI will treat me equally, either way."
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You could try to get an Examiner through the call center to ask if this is a good time to file an Initial Claim ？ If I were in Hirohon's shoes, I would not be able to file an Initial Claim because the UI office would not know why you did so. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't feel comfortable asking why the office did that and I would ask them.

After explaining in detail about the background and past income （ wages ） of each of you and your co-workers, it would be good to hear what the Examiner thinks （ instead of asking the call center staff for their opinion. Be sure to ask to be connected to an Examiner, a position that knows and has authority over unemployment insurance ）.

However, since you and your co-workers are paid different amounts, the results of your File an Initial Claim application may not be exactly the same. I am not sure what the unemployment insurance rules will be from September due to pandemic effects, and I am sure that Examiner will avoid stating anything after September. People on furloughs and those on shortened hours are not going to be able to move around. Companies with temporarily laid-off or short-time employees will be forced to take measures to secure human resources if the resumption of Japanese tourist business continues after September, while keeping an eye on the federal government's congressional action.

If the vaccination rate in Japan increases, the level of economic activity in Hawaii will improve, but the future of the infection rate after the Tokyo Olympics, where many people will gather, is uncertain.

Finally. Thank you for your words of encouragement. Like you, all of the people who have shared their experiences on the unemployment insurance topic are very solid, and I can tell that they have worked diligently and faithfully at their former workplaces before Corona. I strongly hope that these people will be given the opportunity to return to work as soon as possible.