CNMI Department of Labor Employment Services Director Eugene Tebuteb on Thursday said only about 2,000 of 16,000 anticipated applications had been submitted for the second round of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation.
The deadline to submit online applications is March 13, while paper applications will be accepted until March 15.
This second round of unemployment assistance covers the week ended Dec. 27, 2020 through the week ending March 13, 2021 for a total of 11 weeks.
CNMI DOL statistics showed that the second round of applications as of Thursday was significantly less than the first round, with about 37,000 applications.
However, roughly half of the 30,000 applications came from outside the CNMI and were, therefore, not qualified for the Commonwealth PUA/FPUC disbursement, Tebuteb said.
In the CNMI, he said, the work hours of approximately 3,000 government employees have been reduced or they were furloughed or even laid off.
These include the 180 government employees who are affected by the recent reduction-in-force implemented by the administration.
The CNMI recently received an award notification from the U.S. DOL for $262 million in PUA/FPUC aid. The CNMI requested $185 million, in anticipation of about 26,000 applications.
The funds are expected to reach the CNMI this week.
After March 15, the CNMI DOL will be closed to the public in order to adjudicate PUA2 applications.
Secretary of Labor Vicky I. Benavente said if applicants need assistance with their PUA applications after March 15, they will need to contact the CNMI DOL via a phone call or email.
Tebuteb said it takes an average of about 45 minutes to adjudicate an initial application while weekly certifications take about five to 10 minutes to be adjudicated.
Each application is assigned to individual caseworkers, Tebuteb said, adding that this is different from the adjudication process in the first round of unemployment assistance.
He said each individual caseworker now has an assigned caseload to work on, in order to have more control over claims.
“We want to make sure that the process is streamlined, well-organized, etc.,” he said.
If an application has no errors, it will only take about five to 10 days for the application to be approved, Tebuteb added.
With the deadline for the second round soon approaching, the CNMI DOL is urging eligible applicants to submit their applications as soon as possible.
Eligible individuals will receive an average of about $600 for weekly claims, Benavente said.
Initial applicants will receive larger amounts because their applications will cover more weeks.
Those who received unemployment assistance from the first round are required to apply for the second round if they still meet the eligibility requirements for the second round.
“This is a public benefit and we are doing our best to process everyone who is eligible,” Benavente said.
The CNMI DOL team will be working six days a week to process applications, she added.
Almost there
Regarding the first round of unemployment assistance, the CNMI DOL has started processing applications for the first two weeks of February.
About 16,000 of 18,000 claims from this round have been processed.
“We’re almost there. We just have a few thousand more to adjudicate,” Tebuteb said.
Once funding is received for these payment cycles, the money will be released fairly quickly, Secretary Benavente said as she thanked U.S. DOL for its guidance and assistance.
