TN’S extra $600 in benefits to end
July 25 is last day for the expanded unemployment
Tennesseans counting on receiving an extra $600 of federal weekly unemployment benefits through the end of July may be disappointed to find that the last week they can receive these funds ends July 25.
While the additional funding authorized by the CARES Act is set to expire on July 31, Tennessee’s unemployment system pays benefits in weeks that run Sunday to Saturday. The CARES Act states the additional $600 weekly unemployment benefit supplement will end “on or before July 31,” which is a Friday.
“When claimants in Tennessee certify for the week ending July 25, that will be the last week they will receive the additional $600 (Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation) payment,” Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development spokesman Chris Cannon told the Tennessean on Wednesday. “Those claims will pay the following week, through July 31.”
This means Tennesseans who are still unemployed the week of July 26 through Aug. 1 will not receive the $600 supplement for that week.
“Claimants who are unemployed between July 19 and July 25 can complete their weekly certifications between Sunday, July 26 and Saturday, Aug. 1 to receive payment for the week ending July 25,” Cannon stated in an email to the Tennessean.
Multiple states are responding to confusion about when the supplemental benefits effectively end.
“The (Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation) $600 can be paid for weeks ending no later than the week ending prior to Friday, July 31, 2020,” the U.S. Department of Labor said in a statement. “For all states except (New
York), that is Saturday July 25th. New York’s end date is Sunday, July 26th.”
Some states, including New York and Alabama, are now updating their websites and alerting those who receive benefits that their extra $600 payment will in fact end earlier than the widely reported July 31 termination date.
Tennessee has yet to announce how they will inform those who have filed unemployment claims with the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Phylicia Darice of Chattanooga, Tennessee, learned of the technicality Wednesday. Darice, a 30-year-old single mother who is on furlough from her customer service job at a retail business, has yet to receive any unemployment benefits since she applied in mid-april.
She said no one from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development informed her that the CARES Act supplement would effectively end on July 25, though she’s called the department an estimated 100 times to ask about the progress of her claim.
“That’s kind of frustrating, that you keep going through it, and then you feel like you’re being lied to,” Darice said.
Darice may be able to return to work at the end of July, but with the virus still spreading, the future is uncertain. After weeks without income or unemployment benefits, she is already financially stretched thin, she said. Not receiving a week of supplemental funds will have a significant impact in her household.
“I realize $600 may not be much to some, but you’re talking about the livelihood for someone eating for ... a couple of weeks,” Darice said. “You’re taking that away. Or making sure rent is paid for August, because nothing is guaranteed.”
USA Today contributed to this report.
Reach Cassandra Stephenson at ckstephenson@tennessean.com or at (731) 694-7261. Follow Cassandra on Twitter at @Cstephenson731.