Lost Wages Assistance (LWA)
LWA Overview
Once implemented, the Lost Wages Assistance Program will provide $300 per week, in addition to a claimant’s weekly benefit amount. The presidential memorandum outlines that an “eligible claimant” is someone who is eligible to receive $100 in either state or federal weekly benefit amount, someone who completes the weekly certification process and someone who is unemployed as a continued result of COVID-19.
States approved for Lost Wages Assistance initially receive funding to cover three weeks of benefits. For South Carolina, these are the weeks ending August 1, August 8, and August 15. While we implement the first three weeks of LWA assistance in the state, we have proactively requested additional funding approval for weeks 4, 5 and 6. We are currently waiting to hear back from FEMA on those approvals of the additional weeks.
Unlike the CARES Act programs, the LWA program has a funding cap, which means once the allocated funding is exhausted, current or retroactive payments will no longer be available. This program is approved through December 26, 2020, however, the program can end if the federal Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) drops to $25 billion dollars or if additional legislation is passed by Congress to provide similar compensation for unemployed individuals.
LWA Eligibility
To be eligible to receive the weekly $300 LWA funds, you must:
- Be eligible for a weekly benefit amount of at least $100 for one of the following unemployment programs during the week in which you are seeking LWA funds:
- State Unemployment Insurance (UI)
- Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC)
- Extended Benefits (EB)
- Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)
- Trade Readjustment Allowance (TRA).
- Certify that you were unemployed or partially unemployed due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As stipulated by the President’s memorandum, claimants eligible to receive less than $100 per week in state or federal unemployment benefits will not be eligible to receive LWA funds and will only receive their weekly benefit amount for that week.
Additionally, you will not receive the LWA payment if you earn excessive wages for a claim week that results in you not receiving at least $1 of underlying state or federal unemployment benefits.
LWA Payments
Payment Amount: $300.
Duration of LWA Program: States approved for Lost Wages Assistance initially receive funding to cover three weeks of benefits. For South Carolina, these are the weeks ending August 1, August 8, and August 15.
While we implement the first three weeks of LWA assistance in the state, we have proactively requested additional funding approval for weeks 4, 5 and 6. We are currently waiting to hear back from FEMA on those approvals of the additional weeks.
First Payable Week: The LWA program is still being programmed into the MyBenefits portal. Once LWA launches, payments will be retroactive to claim weeks ending August 1, August 8, and August 15. Current and retroactive payments can only be paid while federal funding is available in the DRF.
Additional LWA Resources
Coming soon