Mixed Earners - Share Your Experience
If you are a mixed earner who has been affected by gaps in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, we want to hear from you. Fill out the form below to let us know about your experience. If you are interested, we may follow up about sharing your story.
The CARES Act created a new, federally funded Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program to provide unemployment benefits to workers who lost work as a result of the coronavirus pandemic but would not normally qualify for regular state unemployment insurance benefits, including independent, freelance, contract, and gig workers.
Under existing rules, however, mixed earners who earn a combination of traditional (W-2) and self-employment (e.g. 1099) income are excluded from the PUA program. This means that workers who earn exclusively W-2 or exclusively 1099 income receive benefits based on their total earnings, but mixed earners only receive benefits based on their W-2 employment.
Rep. Schiff recently introduced the Mixed Earner Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Act, which would allow workers who earn a combination of traditional (W-2) and independent (e.g. 1099) income to opt into receiving PUA benefits in lieu of regular state unemployment compensation.
If you need case-specific assistance dealing with the California Employment Development Department (EDD), please contact your state representatives.