With just a few days before the election, Congress appears to be not one bit closer to another round of COVID-19 relief than it was in late July, when special pandemic unemployment benefits ended. Hence, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis figured out how to offer a one-time $375 payment to almost anyone on unemployment between March […]
Lost Wages Assistance
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What’s Working: Colorado unemployment rate drops to 6.4%, $19 million for small businesses, plus “Lost Wages” leftovers
The deadline to claim up to $1,800 in bonus federal unemployment benefits is today for thousands of jobless Coloradans. But political differences continued to thwart any new coronavirus relief plans from moving forward in Congress to help struggling Americans, businesses and industries. On Wednesday, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, pushed a $500 billion […]
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What’s Working: Unemployment backlogs, backdates and overpayments in Colorado
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment first dealt with the onslaught of coronavirus-related unemployment claims, now nearing 750,000 new claims. Then it had to figure out how to pay gig workers, who became eligible for the first time, thanks to the federal CARES Act. Then came the barrage of fraudulent claims by scammers trying […]
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What’s Working: “Lost wages” gets a new deadline, overpayment forgiveness, small business updates and more
Remember M. Hurley, who started a petition last month to bring attention to the plight of jobless Coloradans suddenly facing a massive bill from the unemployment office? The M was Meggan, and I spoke to her the day after President Donald Trump told officials to stop negotiating a new relief plan until after the election […]
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What’s Working: One third of Colorado’s share of “Lost Wages” still unclaimed, plus a new portal to the unemployment office
What’s Working is a new Colorado Sun weekly column for those who’ve lost a job, are looking for one or need to hire someone. Ask us your questions, share your stories and read the archive. The $553 million was expected to go fast. And two weeks after the first Lost Wages Assistance payments were sent […]
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$338 million in federal “Lost Wages” relief paid to Coloradans so far
In just under two weeks, Colorado paid out $338 million in Lost Wages Assistance, the newest federal program to help the unemployed during the pandemic, according to the state Department of Labor and Employment on Thursday. About 217,000 of an eligible 300,000 Coloradans have been paid up to $1,800 on top of the regular unemployment […]
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What’s Working: Thousands of fraud holds lifted for Colorado unemployed, while more face pricier health insurance
Thousands of unemployed Coloradans found financial relief in the past week, but not because the first Lost Wages Assistance payments were issued. Rather, the months-long holds on their unemployment claims were finally lifted. Some hadn’t been paid a penny since July and they couldn’t figure out why, no matter how many times they called the […]
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Unemployed and nearly homeless, jobless Coloradans whose benefits are on hold are crying for help
Jennifer Milton is one of the 7,800 Coloradans wondering what happened to her weekly unemployment check. She hasn’t received a penny since July 21. The thing is, she just can’t seem to get an answer. There’s no evidence that her account was flagged as fraudulent and caught in the ongoing investigation by state and federal […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, COVID, News, Politics and Government
Coloradans rejected from $300 Lost Wages unemployment program over the weekend may be eligible after all
An issue that led to eligible Coloradans getting rejected for a $300 weekly unemployment bonus funded by the federal government has been fixed, confirmed Jeff Fitzgerald, director of unemployment insurance for the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Fitzgerald said the “unique circumstances” were discovered after monitoring complaints on social media over the weekend and […]
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The $300 “Lost Wages” bonus begins, Amazon is hiring like crazy and answers from Colorado’s labor department
Lost Wages Assistance payments have begun in Colorado but not without many technical difficulties. I’ve been tracking it all week so skip down below to see the latest updates. In other employment news, Amazon said this week that it’s adding another 1,900 jobs in Colorado to join its existing 10,500 workers in the state. Most […]