Missouri says unemployment benefits will soon flow to gig workers, self-employed – By Jack Suntrup (St Louis Post-Dispatch) / April 15 2020
JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri will start processing unemployment claims from gig and self-employed workers hit by the economic downturn as soon as next week, the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations said in a news release Wednesday.
The update came a week after officials said they weren’t yet ready to process the claims of independent contractors, such as Uber and Lyft drivers, who don’t contribute to state unemployment trust funds and don’t under normal circumstances qualify for unemployment insurance benefits.
But under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, signed into law on March 27, those self-employed workers are eligible, the state said Wednesday.
Under the federal law, self-employed workers who qualify will receive between $133 and $320 per week plus a weekly $600 federal supplement, the news release said.
The department said self-employed workers affected by the coronavirus who haven’t yet filed a claim should do so at uinteract.labor.mo.gov.
