Furthermore, UI enrollment declines in these three industries have exceeded 85 percent, far better than most other industries in Georgia. Instead, they transitioned out of UI benefits altogether as they began finding employment. Among all Georgians who turned to jobless aid from the height of pandemic job loss in April , to May , UI enrollment declined by 84 percent, signaling an economy that is healing. In May , Georgia women who were jobless turned to the UI safety net 11 percent more than men.
Child care barriers remain a significant hurdle for women who want to regain employment. Disparities in UI take-up among jobless men and women are also attributed to disproportionate shares of women who worked in restaurant and hospitality industries, which experienced the heaviest shares of pandemic job losses, and contributed to the higher shares of unemployed women in Georgia.
And while upcoming monthly payments through federal child tax credit expansions will be helpful to parents who are unemployed, they cannot fully replace the amount of safety net dollars lost from the untimely removal of federal UI programs. The end of these programs in Georgia threatens to place a disproportionate share of unemployed women and mothers in economic hardship and widen the gender pay and wealth gap by forcing women to take unsuitable jobs that pay lower wages, poorly match their skillsets and likely delay their career progress by years.
The June 27 removal of federal UI programs also threatens to pull the floor from an estimated , jobless non-traditional workers and push them further into economic hardship. For example, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance PUA program provides a safety net for those who are self-employed, independent contractors, part-time or other non-traditional workers in need of jobless aid while they seek new employment in a healing economy. Furthermore, in May, more than 84 percent of all non-traditional workers turning to PUA were displaced from employment that was less than full-time.
Underemployment , which includes those who can only find part-time work for economic reasons, has been highest and most persistent among workers of color. In the first quarter of this year, underemployment in Georgia was highest among Black men, at 18 percent, and 16 percent among Black women, nearly doubling that of white men and women.
By providing a floor for underemployed Georgians of color suffering pandemic job loss, PUA has served as an anti-racist tool that protects this segment of the workforce. Many in this segment are employed in service industries including food and accommodation services and hospitality and are disproportionately workers of color whose wages and worker protections have historically been willfully neglected by policymakers at every level of government.
Additional federal standards are also needed through congressional action, to establish baselines which prohibit UI coverage barriers that disproportionately exclude women and workers of color, require a minimum national wage replacement rate and set a minimum of 26 weeks of regular UI benefits.
Also, you must keep filing your weekly claims regularly because you will only be paid for weeks you filed if you win your appeal. Home Frederick M. Gittes Jeffrey P. Vardaro Barbara A. Terzian Cases Press Contact Us.
Am I eligible to receive benefits? In Georgia — as in every other state — employees who are temporarily out of work through no fault of their own may qualify for unemployment benefits. The eligibility rules, prior earnings requirements, benefit amounts, and other details vary from state to state. Here are the basic rules for collecting unemployment compensation in Georgia.
In Georgia, the Department of Labor handles unemployment benefits and determines eligibility on a case-by-case basis. Applicants must meet the following three eligibility requirements in order to collect unemployment benefits in Georgia:.
Virtually all states look at your recent work history and earnings during a one-year "base period" to determine your eligibility for unemployment. In Georgia, as in most states, the base period is the earliest four of the five complete calendar quarters before you filed your benefits claim. For example, if you filed your claim in October of , the base period would be from June 1, , through May 31, During the base period, you must meet all of the following requirements in order to be eligible for unemployment:.
If you were laid off, lost your job in a reduction-in-force RIF , or got "downsized" for economic reasons, you will still meet this requirement. If you were fired because you lacked the skills to perform the job or simply weren't a good fit, you won't necessarily be barred from receiving benefits. However, if you engaged in "misconduct," you will not be eligible to receive unemployment. In Georgia, among other things, misconduct means an intentional violation of the employer's rules, the failure to conform to standards which an employer can reasonably expect from an employee, or careless behavior that is so frequent or severe that it shows a disregard for the employer's interests.
For example, showing up to work under the influence of alcohol or drugs or having several unexcused absences after written warning would typically qualify as misconduct. If you quit your job, you won't be eligible for unemployment benefits unless you had a good work-related reason for quitting. In general, you will have a good work-related reason if there was a material change to your working conditions, a material change to your work agreement with your employer, or your employer failed to pay you for your work.
The extreme delays persist. Meanwhile, people are losing their homes, and many are increasingly unable to put food on the table for themselves and their families. The numbers tell the story. Unemployment levels in Georgia were devastating during the pandemic.
At its peak, they reached The total number of regular initial unemployment claims filed in the state between March and December exceeded 4. During the same period in , about , such claims were filed. While about , Georgia residents are currently receiving benefits, as of March, another , had yet to have their applications for benefits reviewed. More than 40, more claims have yet to be adjudicated.
During the first quarter of , it ranked 28th among states in making unemployment insurance payments and 40th in terms of informing claimants whether or not they qualify to receive benefits. In the first quarter of this year, it took longer to get unemployment claims adjudicated in Georgia than in all but one other state. These are people — from lower-wage workers in the retail and restaurant industries to entrepreneurs, company managers and other professional white-collar workers — who want to work.
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