How to apply for unemployment benefits during a pandemic

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The state has provided for increased payments, but not everyone can get them.

Who is eligible for unemployment benefits?

Citizens registered with the employment service can apply for payments from the state. It should be understood that the main function of these institutions is to help you find a job. The allowance is just a way to keep you afloat while you find a job. And this does not change even during a pandemic.

You will not be registered with the employment service if:

• you already have a job - not necessarily under an employment contract, civil law also counts;
• you are under 16 years old;
• you are a full-time student;
• you are registered as an entrepreneur or self-employed;
• you receive an old-age pension or seniority pension;
• you are disabled - there are indications that do not give you the opportunity to work, and a disability pension has been accrued;
• you are sentenced to correctional labor or imprisonment;
• within 10 days after applying, you refused two suitable vacancies offered by the employment service or from training;
• disappeared from the radar of the employment service during these 10 days and did not consider the proposed employment options.

Suitable work is considered to be a job that corresponds to education, health, is located in an accessible area of public transport and provides an income not lower than the subsistence level (or not lower than the salary in the previous place, if it was less than this level).

However, any position will be considered acceptable to you if:

• you have never worked before and are not qualified;
• in the previous year, you were fired “under the article” more than once;
• you closed the IP;
• you left a peasant or farm enterprise;
• you have refused to complete vocational training or professional development or have been expelled from such courses;
• you decided to return to work after a long (more than a year) break;
• you have been registered as unemployed for more than a year and have not worked for more than three years;
• you contacted the employment service after seasonal work.

Where to apply for unemployment benefits

In a normal situation, it was necessary to contact the center or the employment service or an organization with a similar name strictly at the place of registration. Now it needs to be done remotely.

1. Through employment centers

But only if they provide services remotely. This can definitely be done in,. To submit documents, you will need to log in with a username and password from "Gosuslug" or register directly on the site.

2. Through the portal "Work in Russia"

To log in to, you need a username and password from "Gosuslug". Click on "Apply", then "Apply for unemployment benefits."

Log in to the service.

Enter your personal information and create a resume in the constructor on the site.

Next, select from the drop-down list the employment center at the place of permanent registration, indicate the method of receiving benefits. And then confirm that you are eligible for these payments, consent to the processing of data and are warned of liability for fraud.

What documents are needed to apply for a benefit

To register with the employment service, the following documents are required by default:

• application (printed or by hand), signed with your own hand ();
• passport;
• educational documents certifying qualifications;
• employment history;
• certificate of average income for the last three months (issued in the accounting department at the last place of work, if you worked for hire and just quit).

In the conditions of remote submission of documents, employment centers accept photographs and scans. If you operate through the "Work in Russia" website, you do not need to attach a copy of your employment certificate and a certificate of earnings. This information must be provided by the Pension Fund. You enter information about your passport and diploma in the appropriate boxes.

For those who have not worked before, it will be enough to bring a passport and education documents. People with disabilities need to be additionally provided with an individual rehabilitation program. She will help the staff of the employment center to find suitable vacancies.

The documents must be authentic. Due to forged papers or incorrectly specified information, registration as an unemployed person may be refused.

However, it will only get worse if the deception comes up after you receive benefits. Especially if you actually had income, just unofficial. This can be classified as criminal fraud.

How to apply for unemployment benefits

Within 11 calendar days from the date of submission of documents, the Law of the Russian Federation of 1991-19-04 No. 1032-1 (as amended on 2018-11-12) "On employment in the Russian Federation", you must be provided with two suitable vacancies, if any. They will be sent in electronic form and offered to have an interview with the employer within three days. It is recommended to communicate remotely. Notifications to those who submitted an application on the "Work in Russia" website will come there or on "Gosuslug". If you interacted with the job center directly, it is better to clarify the communication channel.

If there are no vacancies or you do not fit the employer, after 11 days you will be assigned benefits. Or they will refuse if you do not fit the criteria. This may be the case if, for example, you did not deregister as an individual entrepreneur, but simply stopped working. In this case, you can re-apply to the department in a month.

What is the amount of unemployment benefits

In 2020, the minimum amount of unemployment benefits is the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of March 27, 2020 No. 346 "On the amount of the minimum and maximum amount of unemployment benefits for 2020" 1,500 rubles, the maximum is 12,130. Plus, local increasing coefficients may apply in the regions Information letter of the Department for Pensions of the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation dated 09.06.2003 No. 1199-16, the Department of Incomes of the Population and the Standard of Living of the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation dated 19.05.2003 No. 670-9, PF RF dated 09.06.2003 No. 25-23 / 5995, to which multiply federal benefits.

For each applicant, the amount of payments is calculated individually. It takes into account how many people received in last place, how long they have been unemployed, and so on.

Since 2019, the Federal Law "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation on the Issues of Appointment and Payment of Pensions" of the year in the first three months after registration with the employment service, a citizen will be transferred 75% of the average monthly earnings (but not higher than the maximum benefit amount and not below the minimum), in the next three months - 60%. People who are 5 years old or less before retirement receive 75% of the average earnings in the first three months, 60% in the next four, and then 45%. There are also citizens who can only apply for the minimum wage:

• those who previously did not work at all (except for orphans);
• not working for more than a year;
• dismissed "under the article";
• those who worked in the previous calendar year for less than 26 weeks;
• sent by the employment service to courses and expelled for violations;
• closed individual entrepreneurs or left the peasant farm;
• unable to confirm income at the previous place of work - this happens if the salary was issued in an envelope and contributions were not paid to the Pension Fund.

If a person lost his job and joined the labor exchange after February 29, 2020, from April to June he will receive the maximum

Federation of March 27, 2020 No. 346, an allowance of 12 130 rubles. The exception is those who were fired due to violation of labor discipline or in connection with other misconduct.

There are also additional payments for minor children. Those who are recognized as unemployed from March 1, from April to June, will be paid an additional 3 thousand rubles for each child. But money will be credited only to one of the parents, both of them will not be able to use this right.

In addition, the regions can provide for their payments. For example, in Moscow, the unemployed who worked in 2020 for at least 60 days, from April 1 to September 30, will add About Amendments to the Decree of the Mayor of Moscow No. 12-UM dated March 5, 2020 to the benefit so that the total amount is 19, 5 thousand. In the Moscow region, the meaning of additional payments is the same, only the total amount is less - 15 How can the unemployed in the Moscow region issue a monthly payment of thousands.

How long can I receive unemployment benefits

In total, you can receive benefits for six months a year. To resume payments, you will have to wait until 12 months have elapsed from the date of their appointment. If you fail to find a job in a year, you will again apply for support as not working for more than a year, which is why the amount charged will be reduced to the minimum wage.

People near retirement age will be able to receive benefits for 12 months out of an 18-month billing period. If the work experience of an unemployed man is more than 25 years, and a woman is more than 20 years, the period of payments can be additionally increased, but not more than up to 24 months in a three-year period. For each year of work exceeding this length of service, two weeks of receiving benefits are added.

For categories of the unemployed who can only apply for the minimum wage, the payment period has been reduced to three months a year. The complete list is in the previous paragraph.

For which they can deprive the status of an unemployed

If you:

• find a job on your own;
• give up a suitable position twice;
• you will not come to the employment service for a month to view vacancies;
• show up for registration in a state of alcoholic or drug intoxication;
• you will be condemned;
• refuse government assistance in finding a job and write a statement about it.