Reminder: Some PUA claimants must provide proof of employment by August 4

July 27, 2021

For Immediate Release: July 23, 2021

Reminder: Some PUA claimants must provide proof of employment by August 4

AUGUSTA - The Department of Labor is reminding unemployment claimants that it is a recent federal requirement that anyone who has received PUA benefits beginning with week ending January 2, 2021 must submit proof of employment. This is to show that a claimant was either employed or self-employed when they became unemployed as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic and filed for unemployment benefits

We sent affected claimants a notice on May 6, 2021 requesting that they submit proof of employment no later than August 4, 2021. This notice and instructions can also be found in their online ReEmployME account. We have also sent reminder emails to those who have not yet uploaded their information through the secure portal.More recent PUA claimants will also need to provide proof of employment with a deadline of 21 days after the notice send date, so claimants should regularly check their Correspondence.

The Department asks that affected claimants submit their proof of employment as soon as possible to avoid a possible denial and overpayment of PUA benefits. An overpayment determination would require a claimant to repay any benefits they may have received since the week ending January 2, 2021.

More information, including a walk-through video of how to upload the documents, can be found here: https://www.maine.gov/unemployment/puaemployment/ .

If a claimant has already submitted the verification documents, they do not need to do so again unless they hear from the Department that it was insufficient. If they submitted documents and received a denial decision, they have the right to appeal: https://www.maine.gov/unemployment/appeals/ .