MEDIA RELEASE

President Obama signed the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 on Dec. 17, which extends the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program through Jan. 3, 2012.

The Department of Labor & Industrial Relations (DLIR) estimates up to 18,000 unemployed individuals in Hawaii may receive a total of $340 million dollars in benefits due to the extension of EUC.

“The extension of this program will help thousands of Hawaii’s residents provide for their families during the holiday season,” Gov. Neil Abercrombie said. “This infusion of federal dollars will help accelerate Hawaii’s economic recovery. Moreover, these dollars will help support local businesses who face ongoing challenges during these tough economic times. While we welcome this respite from the hardship of job losses, the object of our Administration is to get everyone back to work as quickly as possible.”

DLIR has mailed out 2,349 notices and forms for individuals that have exhausted their regular, state funded benefits.

For claimants to receive their check in a timely fashion the department requests that individuals complete and return enclosed EUC application form and multiple weekly claim certification form to their claim offices for processing. They are not to use Hawaii Tele-Claim or the online system.

For the individuals who exhausted their Tier I and Tier II benefits and were not eligible to move up to the next Tier, the Department increased their maximum benefit amount to the next Tier and mailed out 600 revised monetary determinations Dec. 21 and Dec. 22.

After receiving their revised monetary determinations, these individuals can retroactively file their bi-weekly claim certifications by calling Hawaii Tele-Claim or using the online filing system at www.hawaii.gov/labor/ui