[Aunt Donna]

Has anyone else having trouble with the tiers of extended benefits? I work full-time January through April and part-time the rest of the year. I draw unemployment during the time I work part-time. I have gotten extended benefits for the last two years and was informed I would be eligible this year because my regular claim had exhausted (ran out) before November 27. I was told I would have to finish an extended benefit tier from last year that had just 7 weeks left on it and a lower benefit amount and I wouldn't be eligible for the next tier unless benefits were extended by congress. I am like fine, I go back to work full-time in nine weeks. Here in Louisiana, you have to call a 1-800 number and be on hold for an hour before you get to speak to someone. I did it Tuesday just like I was instructed. The gentleman told me the details and to file this Sunday and my payments would continue. Something about the conversation unsettled me, so I called back the next morning and believe or not I got the man. He told me it would take two days to show up in the system. I was still unsettled but I gave it until Friday morning to show up in the system. It didn't. I called back and this time I got the woman who sits in front of the gentleman I had spoked to earlier in the week. She told me the same thing he did and I asked her why it wasn't showing up on the unemployment site. She said she didn't know what the unemployment site showed, she only knew what she saw on her screen. When I filed today, I was given a confirmation number and was informed that I would not be paid because I had exhausted my benefits. What happened to the extended benefits? I called my friend who is, also, drawing unemployment and is filing for extended benefits next week. She said it sounded like someone messed-up. We trying refiling a claim on-line to see what it said. That didn't help. So much for self-service, so at 7 a.m. I get to call the unemployment office. You have to start that early just to get in-line to speak to someone. This is frustrating. I wished I could do without it. My boss informed me that she pays in to state and federal (which funds the extended benefits) unemployment insurance programs and she wants me to draw everything I am entitled to.

The strange thing, also, is that when I filed my initial claim, they put me on the extended benefits from last year, but they had to manually put in that I was starting a new claim because I eligible. It took four weeks for me to get my first payment (they paid me all the previous weeks that was due me in the first payment). Now I am reverted back to the old claim. This is so confusing. Send good vibes my way when I call in six hours and counting.

[splitimage]

Good luck. I hope it gets sorted out quickly. Dealing with government beurocracy can be incredibly frustrating & I swear they write the rules just to make them unintelligible.

--splitimage

[John25]

Hi faylowell,

I have to deal with these tiers of extended benefits too.

I have been told that the maximum of the 4 tiers is 53 weeks. It doesn't look like this number of 53 weeks will increase, because it is already difficult enough to have the Congress agreed on extending up till 79 weeks for newer claims.
With a new claim you will start the regular 26 weeks plus possible extended benefits.

I hope you can sort it out. I agree that it can be stressful!
John

[Aunt Donna]

Thanks for the replies. I spoke with the same man this morning. I didn't get ugly like I wanted to, instead I said "It's me again, Earl". Since he was the one who I spoke with to begin with, I thought he might as well straighten it out. The extended benefits has to be manually entered into the computer and someone else there does that. He gave her my information. He told me if I don't get a payment this week, I would get two next week. He seen in his system where I did the extended benefit claim myself online last night and he said I was right in doing that. I told him I thought he did that last week for me. That's when he admitted he thought the computer automatically did that. Confusing but I will muddle through. I will keep track of it on the computer and call again if needed.