Laid off during outbreak? Oklahoma offers assistance to idled workers

Mar. 17--If you are a part-time or full-time worker at a business that has been idled because of a temporary closure or scale-back in operations at your job, you can seek unemployment insurance assistance from the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.

How to apply

Applications for compansation can be made online at ok.gov/oesc/Claimants

Be prepared to provide:

--Your Social Security number, a name, mailing address, telephone number and email address if you are a U.S. citizen, or an alien registration number and expiration date if you are a legal alien.

--A DD Form 214 if you served in the military within the past 18 months.

--A Form SF8 or a Form SF 50 if you have been employed by the federal government in the past 18 months.

--Two digital images to prove your identity, one of which must be a photo ID like an Oklahoma Driver's License or Oklahoma ID, if applicable.

--An 18-month employment history, using names of the employers as they appear on paycheck stubs or W-2 forms, supervisors' names and contact information.

--Detailed information on the amounts of wages you earned and how you were paid (hourly, weekly or monthly).

--The reason why you are working reduced hours or are no longer working.

Once eligibility has been approved, a claimant must continue to file weekly claims to receive compensation throughout his or her period of eligibility and must document he or she has met job seeking requirements as part of that process.

State law requires a waiting period before payments begin, which means benefits don't start arriving until the claimant has filed for compensation multiple weeks.

Getting paid

The commission makes weekly compensatory payments to a debit card issued to each qualifying individual after his or her application is reviewed as part of a process that usually takes between seven and 10 days and after another weeklong mandatory waiting period has passed.

The cardholder may either use the card to make purchases directly or can visit the card issuer's website to set up a fee-free procedure that will move the payments from the card directly into his or her banking account via direct deposit.

State law ties the maximum allowable amount of unemployment compensation an Oklahoman is entitled to back to latest-available average annual wage data obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In 2020, the maximum allowable benefit an Oklahoman can receive is 25% of Oklahoma's average annual wage of $46,729 in 2018 (the most recent data available), or $11,700.

In years where the fund is tight, state law dictates a reduction in that percentage.

It further ties the maximum allowable benefit an Oklahoman can receive to the amount of wages subject to unemployment tax it can document the claimant earned during the first four quarters of a five-quarter length of time that ended before the claim is filed.

It also sets a maximum weekly benefit that spreads the total compensation over a near five-month period.

The commission sets a claimant's benefit amounts as part of a "Determination of Eligibility for Benefits" the commission undertakes for each and mails to him or her to review before payments begin.

The determination shows what employers the commission documented you worked for during that time.

It shows the wage data for you those employers provided to the commission.

And it also shows what your calculated weekly benefit amount and what your maximum benefit amount will be, based upon that information.

If you believe wages on your determination are incorrect or missing, you can present check stubs, W-2 forms or other documents to your claims representative to correct the data.

Officials said anyone with questions about the process should contact the commission at 405-525-1500 or 800-555-1554 to discuss them with a claims professional.

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