[North Carolina] Megathread about benefit year ending and filing a new UI claim

[newlightseven]

(updating with new threads, though I'm not updating the number of comments on old ones)

Since there are a whole lot of threads popping up regarding the same topic, and good information is hiding in the comments sections of many of them, this is an attempt to compile everything in one place. The long and short of it is that the DES is still trying to figure out how to implement the federal extensions (as stated on the homepage), but there is some dispute over whether or not people actually need to file new claims (the twitter says to do so, but some people have had agents tell them not to, and weekly certifications can still be filed through a couple of different methods).

Currently, the prevailing advice appears to be: Despite what the DES is saying on social media, Don't file a new claim--but DO make sure you continue to file your weekly certification. If nothing else, at least call an agent before you assume you should file a new claim. Similar to how the DES struggled to implement the changes in January, it might take days or weeks for them to have a concrete understanding of what people need to do, and in the meantime, you're likely still out of work and need the money that you could be getting by filing your weekly certs.

EDIT as of 4/2/21: The DES appears to finally have some real direction for people. As per the DES HOME:

Coordination between State and PEUC Benefits in a New Benefit Year

When people apply for unemployment benefits, they establish an unemployment claim for a 12-month period referred to as a benefit year. This may be different than a calendar year. When a claimant has filed for unemployment for more than 12 months and has earned wages, they are required to file a new claim for state unemployment benefits. This begins a new benefit year and determines the appropriate benefit program and weekly benefit amount for the claimant based on state and federal guidelines.

Under N.C. Senate Bill 114 and the federal Continued Assistance Act, claimants who meet all requirements will continue to receive federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) until they exhaust those benefits or the program expires, before they receive state benefits under their claim for the new benefit year.

To qualify to remain on PEUC:

-The claimant’s first benefit year must have expired after Dec. 27, 2020;

-The claimant must have a remaining balance of PEUC benefits on their first claim; and

-The claimant’s weekly benefit amount for PEUC must be at least $25 higher than their new weekly benefit amount for state unemployment benefits.

DES will automatically adjust weekly benefit amounts for claimants who qualify to remain on PEUC; claimants do not need to take any action. Any benefits owed for previous weeks will be paid retroactively.

This means that if your UI has expired but you still have money in your PEUC that you would like to claim, then you DO need to file a new claim, and you WILL be subject to the new work search requirement.

In order of posting, with the number of comments in the threads currently:

Has anyone figured out the issue with having a pre-existing claim and being forced to file a new claim? 0 comments

payment not issued? New claim ineligible? 11 comments

sad weekly benefit amount for my new unemployment claim 7 comments

PEUC 5 comments

Unemployment Qualifcation 1 comment

PUA Extension Questions 16 comments

Will people who have been getting unemployment now have to show that they're looking for work, or will that only be for new claims? 11 comments

claim history end date says 3/20/21 but i just started getting unemployment 2 weeks ago 7 comments

reapplying today but have no questions about covid 7 comments

Questions about claimants needing to file a new claim and requirement to apply for jobs 59 comments

claim says exhausted 3 comments

confused / pua on top of ui??? 6 comments

No option to file certification? 3 comments

can’t recertify, given the option to file a new claim instead, but my EUC balance was increased and is pending. I’m so confused, what do I do? 59 comments

If you submitted a new UI claim instead of just filing a weekly, you're basically screwed 23 comments

Submitted my new UI because the link told me to, am I screwed? Also other questions 20 comments

And for those who want to read some source material:

The CARES Act of 2020, H.R. 748 Section 2107 is in regards to PEUC

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, H.R. 1319 Section 9011 is in regards to PUA, and 9016 in regards to PEUC

Cooper's Executive Order regarding work search requirements

DES's Facebook post about new UI claims

Hopefully, this will help some people out and keep anyone from getting too panicked.

 

[mybrokenlessthenthree]

@newlightseven It's utter shambles. I can't believe DES is fucking up this badly. They had plenty of time to prepare for this

 

[dionne07]

@newlightseven NC is definitely screwing me. They filed a new UI claim for me. Wouldn't let me certify for 2 weeks online was forced to chat with an agent and now my claim has been pending for 3 weeks for work/lack of work (2 weeks ago it was UI Eligibility)

It's a complete mess how they've done so badly. I've been on PEUC since 6/7/2021, they didn't even pay me out for the benefit week ending in 3/13 (which i filed for on 3/14) .

It's absolutely a trainwreck.

 

[jeannemacl]

@newlightseven When I called they said I still might wait up to six weeks.... that what the streamlined bill was fucking signed for!!!!

 

[idr1]

@newlightseven I just had a good experience talking to a lovely person at NC Works. I made the mistake of filing a new claim, and for over a week I haven't been able to file weekly certifications because I needed to register for NCWorks, even though I had done so.

Anyway, I finally got through to a nice helpful person at NC Works. They pushed a few buttons, and I was able to fill out two weeks' worth of certifications almost before I hung up.

Turns out they needed to explicitly enter the date of my last employment (03/17/2020) to convince their system that I was indeed registered and eligible.

They said that recently they've had trouble with the dates not being filled out (meaning it's blank/null), so the system just defaults to thinking you're employed. I assume that would mean it wouldn't be sending the appropriate info over to DES.

Hope that helps someone!

Edit 04/08:

Okay, I had a week where nothing happened, so I waited for 30 minutes to talk to someone at DES. Apparently my weekly certifications for the last three weeks (since 3/15) were being applied to my accidental/ineligible UI claim rather than my older EUC claim. And since my accidental UI application, my EUC was deactivated. So the agent went through the questions ("Are you a longshoreman?") and reactivated my claim. They said they'd submit the request to have the certifications applied to my EUC instead of my ineligible UI.

Fingers crossed!

 

[apaulz]

@newlightseven I'm currently in the "identity verification" part of the new claim, because I filed initially by clicking the stupid link they had on the front page instead of my certification before finding out about the rest of this.

I'm trying to figure out if I should just leave it alone or not and let the new claim expire. I'm not touching it until the state says something or there's some clarity.

This is absolutely unacceptable.

Glad they made work search nice and clear though lmao. Because that was what was important, that people might not be looking for work hard enough during a fucking pandemic

 

[newlightseven]

@apaulz I believe /@plummerak was in a similar situation and might be better able to advise on how to proceed. You might also check their thread for any advice in there. Honestly, I haven't gotten into the research about how to cancel a claim.