Self-employed individuals in Connecticut can begin filing for unemployment benefits if they were impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. Here’s how.

Self-employed individuals who have lost jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic can begin filing for unemployment insurance on the state Department of Labor’s website starting Thursday.

More than 430,000 people in the state have already filed for unemployment benefits, according to the state Department of Labor and many more are expected. While the department began seeing a significant increase in claims filed in mid-March, self-employed people have been unable to file for assistance.

The state typically does not offer unemployment assistance to self-employed business owners and contractors, but a federal provision has provided funds for those benefits. However, it has taken the department about a month to implement a computer system that allows claimants to properly apply.

It similarly took weeks to allow people access to an additional $600 weekly benefit because of a computer system issue. That is now being paid out, with retroactive payments from the added $600 set to be distributed in the next week or so.

For those who are self-employed, the department has broken the application process up into two steps. Here’s how to file your claim.

Step 1

File a regular state state unemployment insurance claim on www.filectui.com, using the blue button. This has to be done before moving onto the second step, as you will be denied benefits without completing the first step. Self-employed individuals who have already filed a claim should not do so again, as the application is already filed in the department’s system. Those who have done this and received a UC-58 document can move onto Step 2.

After submitting the application, claimants will receive an email that reads: “Thank you for submitting your online application for unemployment compensation benefits with the Connecticut Department of Labor. … Please look for a confirmation email notifying you that your claim has been processed. This email will include your next steps information including instructions for when to start filing your weekly claims.”

Once the claim is processed, claimants will receive a second confirmation email.

In the mail, claimants will receive a UC-58 form with a monetary determination. If the UC-58 shows that you have a “zero” weekly benefit rate (which means you do not have wage earnings in the state system) you are not eligible for state benefits and are eligible to file in the system for self-employed individuals. If the UC-58 shows a weekly benefit rate, you have wage earnings in the state system and are entitled to collect state unemployment benefits.

Step 2

Once a claimant receives a UC-58 in the mail, go to filectui.com, and click the red button labeled “PUA,” which will be available on the state’s unemployment website starting next week. The PUA (Pandemic Unemployment Assistance) system will have a record of your state benefit ineligibility status.

Complete the PUA application. Claimants will need 2019 IRS forms, 1099, 2019 W-2s, and Schedule C. Applicants will be asked to provide earnings for 2019, broken down by quarters. Those without tax records for 2019 can self-attest their earnings, but will be subject to audit.

If a claimant can answer on their PUA application “yes” to self-employed, and “lack of work” for their reason for applying in addition to having their employer registration number, that will put claimants into the fastest automated version of the system. If not able to answer that way, claimants will be able to have their claim processed, but it will require manual determination, and be slightly slower.

Claimants will be asked to state the date that COVID-19 first impacted their employment. Federal guidelines allow this to go back as far as Feb. 2. If an unemployed status goes back to retroactive weeks, the system asks the claimant for weekly earnings through the current week filing.

Upon completion of the PUA application, claimants will then select a payment method. The department recommended selecting direct deposit for the quickest payout. Payment selection is made by returning to www.filectui.com and selecting the green “method of payment” button.

The Department of Labor expects payments to begin rolling out by the end of next week (week of May 4) upon the completion of applications. The PUA, part of the Cares Act, is a federally funded program that will run through the end of the calendar year. The minimum weekly benefits a claimant will receive is $198, while the maximum is $649, based on state guidelines. The benefits will be paid out retroactively to the date which COVID-19 began affecting employment.

Further general questions can be directed to dol.webhelp@ct.gov.

Shawn McFarland can be reached at smcfarland@courant.com.

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