Oklahoma jobless compensation extended by new law
Oklahoma Employment Security Commission will mail forms

About 7,000 Oklahomans whose jobless benefits have ended are expected to be eligible for extended unemployment compensation under federal legislation that went into effect Sunday.

In this photo made Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, Sonja Jackson, of Detroit, holds a Employment Guide while attending a job fair in Livonia, Mich. Unemployment likely will remain high for the next several years because the economic recovery won't be strong enough to spur robust hiring, Federal Reserve officials warned Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009.(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

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At a glance

Extended unemployment benefits

include more weeks of payments

People filing for unemployment are first eligible for up to 26 weeks of regular state benefits from the OESC, and once these regular benefits are finished, they can receive federal extended unemployment benefits, known as EUC Tier 1, for up to 20 additional weeks. When all eligible Tier 1 payments are collected, an application can be submitted for Tier 2 benefits for a maximum of 14 weeks. After that time, Tier 3 is available for expanded unemployment benefits up to 13 weeks.

The Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009 changes the maximum number of weeks that a person can collect Emergency Unemployment Compensation Tier 2 benefits from 13 weeks to 14 weeks, and creates Tier 3 benefits for those who use up Tier 2 claims.

"This is really good news for a lot of people,” said Oklahoma Employment Security Commission spokesman John Carpenter.

The commission will mail all current and former Tier 2 claimants a determination informing them of eligibility and instructions for filing. Someone who has been paid the final week of Tier 2 benefits will then be able to apply for Tier 3, Carpenter said.

All Tier 3 claims will be backdated so that those eligible will receive benefits for all weeks in which they were entitled, said Jerry Pectol, the commission’s director of unemployment insurance. Filing instructions will be mailed to addresses on record, so it’s critical for those filing to make sure the agency has a current address, he said.

"This extension will help quite a few Oklahomans,” Pectol said.

"We ask that our claimants be patient as we implement these changes. We want to assure them that everyone will receive all of the benefits for which they are eligible.”

The state has been paying out record amounts of benefits this year, Carpenter said, and while the number of new applicants has dropped a bit in the past couple of months, there has been a rise in those receiving extended benefits.

"That number just keeps going up and up,” indicating that more and more people are going through the system "and are not able to find a job,” he said. "It’s brutal out there.”

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