13-week extension for people with expired unemployment benefits begins

There's finally some good news for New Jersey residents who have been out-of-work and struggling to claim unemployment benefits for weeks.

News 12 Staff

May 21, 2020, 12:37 AM

Updated 1,603 days ago

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There's finally some good news for New Jersey residents who have been out-of-work and struggling to claim unemployment benefits for weeks.
The 13-week extension for people with expired benefits, which was first approved as part of the CARES Act in March, is finally rolling out. The New Jersey Department of Labor says people who qualify will get texts or emails telling them when they can certify, according to a schedule based on their Social Security numbers. The first group will start claiming Sunday.
That's good news for John and Gail Kelly. He's an unemployed construction worker, whose benefits expired on April 11.
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"We were on unemployment prior to it, which is really half your salary anyway," Gail says, "So, we were hoping it would just roll into the 13 weeks because it had been approved back in March. But that didn’t happen."
She's hopeful that with the ban on nonessential construction ending this week as well, business might also start to pick up soon.
If you have a question about unemployment benefits, mortgage assistance or any other benefits you may be entitled to under the CARES Act, check out this Q&A from Kane In Your Corner.