In order to provide benefits as quickly as possible, payments will be issued in phases. If you qualify for PUA the initial payments you will receive are as follows:

$167.00 per week, for each week from February 2, 2020 to March 28, 2020 that you were unemployed due to a COVID-19 related reason



AND

$167.00 plus $600 per week, for each week from March 29, 2020 to July 25, 2020, that you are unemployed due to a COVID-19 related reason



AND

$167.00 per week, for each week from July 26, 2020 to December 26, 2020, that you are unemployed due to a COVID-19 related reason, up to a total of 39 weeks (minus any weeks of regular UI and certain extended UI benefits that you have received).

If you qualify for your claim to be backdated to an earlier PUA effective date based on your last day of work, you could receive payment for prior weeks you were unemployed due to COVID-19. You will be required to provide the EDD eligibility information every two weeks. This is known as certifying for benefits.

After these initial payments, depending on your prior earnings, your weekly amount of $167.00 per week may be increased. You will have an opportunity to certify your prior income on your PUA application. The EDD is working to establish efficient procedures to determine if an increase to the weekly PUA amount will be appropriate after an individual receives the initial weekly amount. In addition to applying to future benefits, any increase from the $167 amount also applies retroactively. This means that you may also receive payment to make up the difference you should have been paid if your benefits had initially been based on the increased amount. You will be notified of any increase that you are entitled to receive.

Example

If you apply for PUA on April 28, 2020, the first day it will be available, and you certify you were unemployed due to COVID-19 since March 8, you have been unemployed for 7 full weeks. If you meet the COVID-19-related criteria for PUA, we will calculate your amount as follows—

March 8-March 28 = 3 weeks x $167/week = $501

March 29-April 25 = 4 weeks x $167/week (with extra $600) = $3,068

TOTAL: $3,569 (from March 8 – April 25)