GCPI, the National Employment Law Project, and the Century Foundation created a flowchart to clarify which pandemic-response or regular unemployment assistance benefits may be available to workers from late March 2020 through late December 2020 and under which circumstances.

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Image of a flow chart Potential Unemployment Insurance (UI) Benefits Available Through December 31, 2020 (For a Worker Eligible for Regular State UI Benefits) Regular State UI Benefits are 12-30 weeeks, varying by state. If Regular Benefits are exhausted, Federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) are potentially available for 13 weeks. After PEUC is exhausted, if the state triggers onto EB I, Extended Benefits (EB) Tier I is available for up to 13 weeks. After PEUC is exhausted, if the state does not trigger onto EB I, then Federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) is potentially available for 9-27 weeks. After Extended Benefit Tier I are exhausted, if the state triggers onto Extended Benefits Tier II, then EB Tier II is potentially available for up to 7 weeks. After Extended Benefits Tier I are exhausted, if the state does not trigger onto Extended Benefits II, then Federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) are potentially available for 9-27 weeks. After Extended Benefits Tier II are exhausted, then Federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) are potentially available for 9-27 weeks. Extended Benefits is limited to workers who the individual had 20 weeks of full-time insured employment or the equivalent in insured wages. Under federal law, the equivalent in insured wages is the earnings covered by State law which exceed either 40 times the most recent benefit amount or 1.5 times the individual's insured wages in that calendar quarter of the base period in which insured wages were the highest (or one such quarter if wages were equal for more than one quarter). An updated list of states that have triggered onto Extended Benefits is available at https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/archive.asp. Pandemic Unemployment Assistance is limited to workers who have a narrow COVID-19 specific reason for unemployment as determined under the CARES Act and by the US Department of Labor. Source: Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality, 2020