Thank you for participating in the third webinar of our Financial Resources series,
Helping Independent Contractors & Gig Workers Navigate the Programs Available Under the CARES Act.
Special thanks to all of our speakers including Mark Costello with the U.S. Small Business Administration who responded to our last minute request to provide an update on the closure of the SBA Loan Programs due to the exhaustion of funds.
The slide deck from the webinar in addition to Janie Sacco's slide presentation on the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Application for Independent Contractors that was to have been presented is also available for download as a PDF on the
Eastside Recovery Hub.
The following are links to a partial list of resources referenced.
NOTE: The unemployment benefits phones and eServices system will be unavailable 6 a.m. - 8 p.m., Saturday, April 18, so they can update their technology to implement the Federal CARES Act PUA. These updates will allow individuals who are self-employed and part-time workers with less than 680 hours to apply for benefits.
How to apply for unemployment:
- Download this checklist for information you need to apply for regular unemployment benefits.
- Apply for regular unemployment benefits at https://www.esd.wa.gov/unemployment even though you likely don’t qualify for them. This step is required before you can apply for the benefits for self-employed workers.
- Apply for expanded unemployment benefits (called Pandemic Unemployment Assistance) when the application goes live on Sunday, April 19th
For questions about unemployment benefits you can now call 1-833-572-8400. Please be aware that we are experiencing historically high call volumes and the wait times to speak with staff are long. Your best option is to try to find the answers to your questions on
esd.wa.gov BEFORE you call.
