Starting next month, Kentucky residents receiving unemployment insurance benefits will once again be required to look for work.
Amy Cubbage, a general counsel in Governor Andy Beshear’s office who has been speaking on behalf of the Office for Unemployment Insurance for the past eight months, said Kentuckians receiving jobless benefits will be required to complete their work search requirement starting May 9.
click to download audioCubbage said under normal rules, claimants have a reasonable amount of time to find work but said there appear to be plenty of jobs available now for people to find which is one reason for reinstating the longstanding work search requirement.
click to download audioCubbage said there are some exceptions to the work search requirement.
click to download audioMeanwhile, Cubbage said over 102,000 people have registered a new account with the state UI office after the computer system was recently shut down due to hack and fraud attempts. The state sent out over 300,000 letters to claimants with instructions on creating a new account.
She also said over 4,500 people have received in-person help at the state’s career centers that reopened last Thursday.
The state has not given an updated number of unpaid claims from last year in over two weeks.
In Kentucky, the benefit ranges from around $40 up to $550 per week. Benefits typically only last for 26 weeks but were extended to last up to 39 weeks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
