BATON ROUGE – The Louisiana Workforce Commission is extending the disaster unemployment assistance application period to Oct. 14 for those who have been affected by the recent historic flooding.

Parishes included in the application period are: Acadia, Ascension, Avoyelles, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Vermillion, Washington and West Feliciana.

Disaster unemployment assistance is available to workers and self-employed individuals who lost work or earnings as a result of the flooding that began on Aug. 11.

Applications filed after the Oct. 14 deadline will be considered untimely and disaster unemployment assistance may be denied unless the applicant provides good cause.

Disaster unemployment assistance 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

- 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 that they were working or self-employed when the disaster occurred. To receive benefits, all required documentation must be submitted within 21 days from the date the application is filed.

Assistance is available from weeks of unemployment beginning August 14, 2016 and up to February 18, 2017, as long as the individual's unemployment continues to be a result of the disaster.

Due to high call volume, applicants are encouraged to file their applications online by at www.laworks.net through the LWC's Helping Individuals Reach Employment portal. Applicants may also file by telephone by calling the Benefits Analysis Team at 1-866-783-5567. Hours to accept DUA claims have been extended to 6:30 a.m. – 10 p.m.