How to Get an Unemployment Extension in Ohio
Beneficiaries of UC benefits can apply for Ohio unemployment compensation extensions if and when the state initiates the Extended Benefits (EB) program. Currently, the OH Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) does not offer unemployment benefits extensions in Ohio. However, UC recipients who would like to know how to get an unemployment extension in the future can still become familiar with the process by reading the sections below.
The Ohio federal unemployment extensions are generally activated once the rate of unemployment rises beyond six percent. Note that, however, this condition may change with future iterations of the EB program. In the event that EB payments are initiated, the ODJFS will inform workers who are eligible for unemployment continuation and provide them with the instructions on how to proceed with the application procedure. Therefore, not all UC recipients necessarily qualify for unemployment extensions in Ohio.
The Extended Benefits program is similar to the standard UC program in several regards, as EB applicants:
- Must resubmit the same information and documents related to their work history.
- Are required to prove their job availability on a regular basis.
- Will continue receiving the same amount of weekly UC payments.
Unemployment beneficiaries who are selected to participate in the EB program are typically eligible for 13 additional weeks of UC payments. In times of extremely high unemployment rates, however, the state may grant an unemployment compensation extension of 20 weeks
About Past Ohio Unemployment Compensation Extension Programs
Apart from the Ohio unemployment extension EB program that operates on a state level, the state has also implemented other programs that have provided federal unemployment extensions in the past. For instance, due to the extreme rise of unemployment in the U.S. in 2008, the federal government implemented the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program with the goal to provide temporary financial stability to jobless workers.
The EUC program was devised to provide extended unemployment benefits to UC recipients who had exhausted their regular state unemployment benefits. Thus, during the EUC’s active period, unemployed Ohio residents were able to apply for unemployment benefits extensions, which were completely funded by the U.S. government.
The government’s emergency unemployment extension program was structured into four different levels, called tiers, and each level offered a certain number of additional benefit weeks. This multi-tiered EUC structure offered the following options for extended benefits:
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Tier one – 20 weeks of additional benefits, regardless of the state’s total unemployment rate (TUR)
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Tier two – 14 weeks of extended benefits in states with a TUR of six percent in the last three consecutive months
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Tier three – nine weeks of extra benefits in states with a seven-percent TUR in the last three consecutive months
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Tier four – 10 additional benefit weeks in states with a TUR of nine percent in the last three consecutive months
Note that, in order to receive benefits from the next tier, recipients of EUC benefits were required to exhaust the benefits of the previous tier.
This federal unemployment benefits extension program was made inactive at the start of 2014 without a phase-out period, and it has not been activated since.
