RRB Pays Extended Unemployment Benefits under CARES Act

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, recently signed into law by President Trump, authorized extended unemployment insurance (UI) benefits for railroad workers sidelined during the COVID-19 pandemic.After making necessary programming changes to agency systems, the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) began processing and paying extended benefits on May 11.

The CARES Act authorized payment of extended UI benefits to rail workers who received UI benefits from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020. Under the legislation, railroad workers with less than 10 years of service may be eligible for up to 65 days of extended benefits within 7 consecutive 2-week registration periods. Workers with 10 or more years of railroad service, who were previously eligible for up to 65 days in extended benefits, may now receive benefits for up to 130 days within 13 consecutive 2-week registration periods. No extended benefit period under this provision can begin after December 31, 2020.
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Dear Brothers and Sisters:

As of Sunday, April 26th, workers eligible for the new pandemic unemployment assistance program filed their first claims. There is an unprecedented volume of claims expected to be received by the Employment Security Department (ESD), some workers may benefit from guidance on how to access unemployment during covid-19. I invite you to share the ESD talking points with all whom you know are affected in your network of family, friends, etc., with the websites, and social media content (below)

Additionally, for your reference, below is the email that hundreds of thousands of workers received from ESD in the last Friday / Saturday.

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