Bucks County residents impacted by remnants of Hurricane Ida are eligible to apply for temporary Disaster Unemployment Assistance.
“The Wolf Administration has worked quickly with the federal Department of Labor to stand up this temporary disaster unemployment program to help Pennsylvanians in the hardest hit counties as they continue recovering from Ida,” said Department of Labor & Industry Secretary Jennifer Berrier. “I strongly encourage Pennsylvanians whose employment is impacted as a direct result of Ida in one of the six federally-declared counties to apply for these benefits.”
The DUA assistance is a result of Gov. Tom Wolf’s successful request to President Joe Biden to declare a major disaster in Pennsylvania following heavy rainfall, severe flash flooding and tornadoes from the remnants of Ida that impacted Pennsylvania on Aug. 31 through Sept. 5.
Pennsylvanians eligible to apply for DUA assistance must live, work or have to travel through impacted areas to reach work in one of the following counties – Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Philadelphia or York. Other counties may be added.
The temporary DUA benefits are only available for individuals, including those who are self-employed, who are unemployed as a direct result of damages caused by remnants of Hurricane Ida.
Individuals eligible for DUA benefits are those who work or live in one of the federally-declared counties and lost their jobs directly due to the disaster. Those eligible may also include:
– Individuals unable to reach their job because they must travel through the affected area and are unable to do so because of the disaster
– Individuals who were to begin employment but were prevented doing so by the disaster
– Individuals who became the major support for a household because of the death of the head of the household as a result of the disaster
– Individuals who cannot work because of an injury caused as a direct result of the disaster
Pennsylvanians whose employment is impacted for the reasons listed above should file a claim online at uc.pa.gov. Before an individual will be determined eligible for DUA, L&I must first establish that the individual is otherwise not eligible for regular unemployment compensation benefits under any state or federal law.
The deadline to apply for DUA benefits is Oct. 20. DUA claims filed after the deadline may be ineligible for payment under certain circumstances.
