On Friday, November 6, 2009 President Obama signed The Workers Assistance Act of 2009.  This Act created two additional tiers of Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits.  Notices have been mailed to all impacted individuals. 

Currently there are two active extended benefit programs in the State of Vermont the Department of Labor is authorized to pay unemployment benefits under.  The first program (EUC) is 100% a federally funded.  At this time, it has four tiers, three of which Vermont qualifies for.  Payment under each tier is allowed provided the individual is not qualified for Regular benefits.  Absent changes made by Congress, the EUC program will end on December 31, 2009, at which time individuals will continue to receive EUC benefits until they exhaust the current tier.  The following chart provides details on the current EUC Tiers:

	Available Weeks	Trigger
Tier 1	Up to 20 weeks	none
Tier 2	Up to 14 weeks	none
Tier 3	Up to 13 weeks	TUR > 6.0% or IUR > 4.0%
Tier 4	Up to 6 weeks	TUR > 8.5% or IUR > 6.0%

At this time, Vermont has triggered onto Tier 3 of the EUC program.  This means, for those who are eligible for the EUC Benefits, they will receive up to 47 weeks under this program.

The second extended program in Vermont is the State Extended Benefit (EB) program.  Vermont triggered onto EB on March 22, 2009, which provided up to 13 weeks of EB for those individuals who have exhausted all rights to Regular and EUC benefits.  However, when the unemployment rate reduces and Vermont triggers off, EB benefits will stop.  When this occurs, individuals filing will be notified.  Normally the cost of the EB program is split equally between the federal unemployment trust fund and the state’s employers.  However, as part of the ARRA Act the federal government will pick up 100 percent of the cost of EB benefits through December of 2009.  If a former government employee receives EB, the state government or town will continue to pay its share of benefit cost. 

With both programs, the Vermont Department of Labor will notify individuals of ‘next steps’.  In many cases, those eligible for EUC benefits will automatically be set up for the appropriate extension.   Those potentially eligible for EUC Tier 3 or EB benefits will be required to participate in an EB orientation hosted by our Regional Resource Centers.  Given the duration of those receiving EUC Tier 3 or EB benefits, as well as the stricter requirements associated with the EB program, those filing for Tier 3 (or higher) and EB will be required to report details on where they looked for work during the week being claimed.  Additional resources about the EB program are provided under “Related Links” on the right hand side of this web page.

In all cases, with both programs notices will be mailed with filing instructions.  If a recipient’s mailing address changes, such change must be submitted in writing to enable proper notification. 

Individuals who have already received their full regular and extended benefits entitlement will be mailed filing instructions if/when additional benefits become available.  Information about future extensions (if/when available) will be posted on this web page. 

Press Releases regarding both programs are available.

Last updated: 12/05/09