Alabama Department of Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington announced today that ADOL has disbursed more than $1 billion in COVID-19 related unemployment compensation benefits. Alabama is paying benefits under all three programs covered in the CARES Act: Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC).

Since March 14, there have been more than 7,000 unemployment claims filed in Cullman County. In the week prior to March 14, 25 claims were filed in the county.

“ADOL has processed 88 percent of active COVID-19 related claims, and by doing so, has disbursed more than one billion dollars into Alabama’s economy,” said Washington. “Over the past two months, we have paid out more in total unemployment benefits than in the last six years combined.”

“We know there are still claimants who have yet to be paid, or are experiencing issues with their claims, and we continue to work to improve services and get those payments out,” continued Washington. “The vast majority of claims that haven’t yet been processed are due to the fact that the claimant isn’t filing their weekly certifications, a process required in order to receive benefits each week. Weekly certifications can be filed online at www.labor.alabama.gov, or if you are receiving PUA, those weeks can be filed via the PUA app.”

Important Links:

Claimants can track their claims status by using the UI Claims Tracker, which can be located at https://uiclaimstracker.labor.alabama.gov/. 

PUA claims can be filed and certified at https://pua.labor.alabama.gov.

Additionally, information and FAQs can be found at ADOL’s COVID-19 resource page at https://labor.alabama.gov/newsfeed/News_CovID19.aspx.