By Johnnie Rosario
The Guam Department of Labor is asking residents who qualify for unemployment to make sure their information is updated on hireguam.com by this Friday, November 20, if they want to be paid up to $1,800 on November 24.
"The Guam Department of Labor is advising all Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claimants who may qualify for the Lost Wages Act to get their documents in order and submitted by Friday, Nov. 20 in order to be included in the Nov. 24 batch," a news release from the agency reads. "GDOL continues to audit the potentially qualified LWA claims, but the batch scheduled for next week may be smaller than anticipated due to a lack of documentation. Throughout this week some applicants may receive a call from PUA staff to fix their claims or supply additional documents and check stubs to qualify for the supplement."
The LWA, which was instituted by executive order of President Donald Trump, provides qualifying claimants an extra $300 a week of federal assistance for up to six weeks, on top of what they receive from PUA.
"To qualify for LWA, claimants must receive at least $100 in PUA. Dates covered are weeks ending Aug. 1 to Sept. 5." - GDOL statement
To submit documents, claimants must upload them into their hireguam.com accounts. No walk-ins are available for this purpose at the moment.
“Do not wait to be called or audited. If you know you were back to work during July, August or September and then re-furloughed, you must submit additional documentation to show when you went back to work, what date, and what date you were released as a direct result of COVID-19 in order to insure that you will be qualified,” said Guam Department of Labor Director David Dell’Isola.
Those who have been flagged or who know their claims need to be updated, should do so as soon as possible. If we do not receive the necessary documentation, claimants will have to wait for the next batch of LWA. The timing for the next batch is currently unknown.
