Affected parishes eligible for disaster unemployment assistance
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BATON ROUGE – President Barack Obama granted a major disaster declaration for 12 Louisiana parishes, making disaster unemployment assistance available to businesses and residents whose employment was lost or interrupted as a result of the recent flooding.
The Louisiana Workforce Commission is accepting applications for disaster unemployment assistance from residents and businesses in the multiple parishes. The following parishes are:
East Baton Rouge
Livingston
St. Helena
Tangipahoa
Acadia
Ascension
East Feliciana
Iberia
Lafayette
Pointe Couppe
St. Landry
Vermillion
Individuals affected in the above disaster areas must file disaster unemployment assistance applications until Sept. 15. DUA is available to those who:
- Worked or were self-employed or were scheduled to begin work or self-employment;
- Can no longer work or perform services because of physical damage of destruction to the place of employment as a direct result of the disaster;
- Can establish that the work or self-employment they can no longer perform was their principal source of income;
- Do not qualify for regular unemployment benefits from any state;
- Cannot perform work or self-employment because of an injury as a direct result of the disaster or
- Became the major support of a household because of the death of the head of household.
Applicants must submit their Social Security number, check stubs and documentation to support the claim they were working or self-employed when the disaster occurred.
To file for DUA, applicants should apply online by visiting www.laworks.net and filing an application through the LWC's HiRE (Helping Individuals Reach Employment) portal or by calling the Benefits Analysis Team at 1-866-783-5567 Tuesday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CDT. Due to high call volume at this time, applicants are encouraged to try the online method first. Additional information is available at www.laworks.net.