A. EUC - Initiated in 2008, EUC just expired at the close of 2013.  However, an agreement has been reached by a bipartisan group in Congress to extend the program for five months retroactive to 12-28-13, when it expired.  The agreement contains many administrative concerns as to how benefits might be calculated retroactively, and some states might reject the program in light of solvency and federal loans still outstanding.   The House and Senate will have to consider these concerns in the coming weeks.

B. DUA - This program is still very much alive, but requires that, your employment or self-employment must have been lost or interrupted as a direct result of a major disaster declared by the President of the United States. You must not be eligible for regular unemployment insurance benefits under any state or Federal law.

C. EB - As with the EUC program, extended benefits has finally run its course.  In effect since 2009, it, too, expired at the end of 2013 and no further extensions are available.

Most States offer 26 weeks of benefits (6 months) in a regular UI claim.  Are there States offering something different than that benefit amount?

Yes, some States now base the duration of benefit payment upon the State's unemployment rate and other factors.  They are:

• Montana - 28 weeks 
• Kansas - 20 weeks
• Missouri - 20 weeks
• Arkansas - 25 weeks
• Michigan - 20 weeks
• Massachusetts - 30 weeks
• North Carolina - 17 weeks
• South Carolina - 20 weeks
• Georgia-18 weeks
• Florida - 16 weeks.

California has a work share program.  Is it better than just laying off my employees?

It certainly can be.  Here's a list of benefits and minimum requirements to participate:

• Enables a business to retain trained employees and avoid the expense of recruiting, hiring, and training new employees.
• Enables employees to be retained during a temporary slowdown so employers can quickly gear-up when business conditions improve.
• Assists employers who need to reduce their work force permanently to use Work Sharing as a phased transition to layoff.
• Allows affected employees to continue to work at reduced levels with an opportunity to find other employment before an expected layoff.
• Treats employees more equitably than layoffs, which place the burden of economic    adjustments for an entire business on relatively few employees.
• Allows almost all types of business or industry to use the Work Sharing program.

REQUIREMENTS              

Who can participate?

• Employers with a reduction in production, services, or other conditions who are looking for an alternative to layoffs may participate in the Work Sharing program.

Specific requirements include:

• A minimum of two employees, comprising at least 10 percent of the employer's regular workforce  or a unit of the workforce, must be affected by a reduction in wages and hours worked.
• The reduction in wages and hours worked also must be at least 10 percent.