Outages delay jobless benefits
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Louisiana Workforce Commission Executive Director Tim Barfield said Thursday that 25,000 people have applied for unemployment benefits in the wake of Hurricane Gustav.
The state labor department, now called the Louisiana Workforce Commission, usually processes 2,200 to 2,400 new applications a week, he said.
Farmers, fishermen, shrimpers, small business owners and other self-employed workers are eligible for disaster unemployment benefits. The federally funded benefits — up to $258 a week — last 26 weeks. The deadline to apply is Oct. 6.
“Disaster unemployment allows people ordinarily not eligible for unemployment to claim unemployment,” Barfield said.
To apply:
Gustav made landfall a week ago in Terrebonne Parish as a Category 2 hurricane. The storm’s impact was felt nearly statewide. Power was knocked out in south, central and northeast Louisiana. Curfews in a number of parishes forced businesses to curtail their operating hours.
The hurricane also shut off the electricity at the labor department’s downtown-area offices.
The lack of power hampered the agency’s ability to process claims, delaying benefits for up to nine days for some, Barfield said.
He said the agency should be caught up on paying benefits by today.
Barfield said the length of the power outage caught him by surprise.
Money to purchase backup generators was cut out of previous state budgets, he said.
The state also has $7.4 million in federal funds to hire workers to help parishes clean up after the storm.
Barfield said the jobs will be temporary.
The state labor department, now called the Louisiana Workforce Commission, usually processes 2,200 to 2,400 new applications a week, he said.
Farmers, fishermen, shrimpers, small business owners and other self-employed workers are eligible for disaster unemployment benefits. The federally funded benefits — up to $258 a week — last 26 weeks. The deadline to apply is Oct. 6.
“Disaster unemployment allows people ordinarily not eligible for unemployment to claim unemployment,” Barfield said.
To apply:
- Call (800) 957-1605 or (866) 259-6345.
- Log onto http://www.laworks.net.
Gustav made landfall a week ago in Terrebonne Parish as a Category 2 hurricane. The storm’s impact was felt nearly statewide. Power was knocked out in south, central and northeast Louisiana. Curfews in a number of parishes forced businesses to curtail their operating hours.
The hurricane also shut off the electricity at the labor department’s downtown-area offices.
The lack of power hampered the agency’s ability to process claims, delaying benefits for up to nine days for some, Barfield said.
He said the agency should be caught up on paying benefits by today.
Barfield said the length of the power outage caught him by surprise.
Money to purchase backup generators was cut out of previous state budgets, he said.
The state also has $7.4 million in federal funds to hire workers to help parishes clean up after the storm.
Barfield said the jobs will be temporary.
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