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This is not exactly true or accurate. The PUA covers people who don’t qualify for regular UI, including people who don’t meet the income or work requirements for regular UI (which varies from state to state). A lot of things vary by state but even your state of CA specifically notes that you can qualify for PUA benefits if:
But this could also be the case if you are an employee with insufficient earnings. To qualify for PUA based on insufficient work history, you must have been recently employed, which could be satisfied if you had a bona fide offer to start working on a specific date but were unable to start as a direct result of a COVID-19 related reason.
To be “an employee with insufficient earnings” you would definitely have W2 income. Also, on the main page for the CA PUA they describe multiple employer W2 related situations.
Here is the link for the CA PUA benefits, so that people can get the facts (for CA):
For @NicoleHi, who is in Hawaii, because she has some W2 income, she must first apply for regular UI and only because she qualified for regular UI, she then cannot apply for the PUA. However, if she did had not qualified for regular UI, she could then apply for the PUA. But in many states, you do not have to apply for regular UI first, you can just go straight to the PUA application.
I can’t stress enough how much it varies from state to state, especially the income requirement to qualify for regular UI. I don’t want anyone to miss out on benefits because they heard this or that as it may not apply to their situation.
Yes. I am sure that it does for my state. However, I looked at CA and it appears that they are doing a straight benefit of $167 for the PUA there. You can see that about mid-way down the page of the link above.
Thank you so much JJD for your reply! I will look into this website. (although it seems like your reply below may be saying that i don’t qualify?:
“she must first apply for regular UI and only because she qualified for regular UI, she then cannot apply for the PUA”
I would be absolutely satisfied with the extra $600/week- that could definitely hold me over until this passes (i think).
Hi Nicole! Yes, I’m sorry. I have been able to dig up more information for the PUA benefits in Hawaii since my first response. The only thing that all of the states seem to have in common is how deep they bury the most useful information. Though in fairness, most are still updating and working on getting the information published. Either way, I did finally come across this info for HI:
What if I earned much more in 2019 from self-employment than I did from my W-2 job? Can I choose to apply for PUA if I think my benefit amount will be higher?
No. You must first apply for regular unemployment, if you earned more than $130 in calendar year 2019 from an employer (or employers) who took taxes out of your paycheck.
It is on this page here (which I found from clicking on a very subtle “?”). You have to scroll down to the FAQ at the end of the menu.
The income from employment threshold for UI in HI is shockingly low, so it does appear that you will not be able to get the PUA in HI. However, you will for sure get the extra $600 a week from the feds until the end of July if you remain unemployed. It is a fed program and so is the same for people in all states - anyone who gets at least $1 weekly of UI or PUA.
Oh wow, you’re good at researching info for others…that’s very nice of you. Thank you!
And yes, it’s shocking what they expect us to live off of here! (hence why i started the hosting business… it’s better money than most 9-5s here!)
Well i’m happy to hear about the Federal help.
Thank you again!
Sorry but this is not correct. The extra $600 is for those eligible for PUA. You can’t be on regular UI and get PUA benefits. From your link:
“The CARES Act also creates a new temporary federal program called Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) that provides an additional $600 weekly benefit to those eligible for PUA. Individuals will be eligible for FPUC payments for the weeks ending April 4, 2020 through July 25, 2020.”
So bottom line, if you qualified for regular UI, which apparently NicoleHi did from her part time job, you don’t qualify for PUA and you won’t be receiving the extra $600 sorry to say.
It won’t let me include a link, but you can also reference our Labor Commissioner Julie Su talking about it in a Facebook live video posted on May 1. Fast forward to the 20 minute mark.
Regarding the $167 in CA, that’s the minimum they are starting everyone out at without verifying incomes, in order to get money out to people in a timely fashion. Later on after they complete some additional programming they will be requesting documents if needed to verify incomes. At that point people can possibly be upgraded to the max of $450 depending on income, which will be paid retroactively to the beginning of the claim. So that’s why I am wondering if they will consider Airbnb as “income”, as it generally isn’t for regular UI.
Well that’s not good news. It seems unfair that a job that isn’t even considered part time would be what they base my UI income off of. I may try calling my state rep. to inquire further.
Thanks again for your replies.
@gman68558 You might consider deleting your post as it contains grossly incorrect information. A lot of people read this forum and you are doing them a disservice.
This is W.R.O.N.G.
The quote that you are using refers to the 600 for people on PUA but it does not mean that others are also not getting the 600. Please check your information. It is widely available on the WWW.
My husband is a W2 employee only. A bartender. He has been receiving regular UI since Mar 18 and the additional $600 since it was available (first week of April I believe). But, here is actual information from the government for you:
He’s wrong. Please ignore. He is incorrect. My husband has been getting the $600 and he is only a W2 employee with regular UI. I posted the govt document above.
This makes sense. My state did it this way as well.
That’s the whole point of the PUA. It covers people (and income) who don’t ordinarily qualify for regular UI. Like people with income from Airbnb, for example. So, yes. Though individual states have a lot of leeway on how they award benefits. But I doubt you will have any trouble in CA.
I live in California, still work full time and was hosting full time. I lost over $3k per month in Airbnb income and applied for Unemployment due to partial loss of income (i am considered a partially unemployed sole proprietor). My county placed a ban on short term rentals due to COVID. I was awarded a weekly UIB amount and the $600 per week pandemic compensation.
Yes. We were discussing the amount on top of the $600 (hence the $167), which is what I believe you are referring to as the “PUA”. Technically the PUA also includes the state’s contribution. So, in CA, it is $167 (initially) plus the $600. Though CA only did the $167 flat to get money out quickly and then they will update the benefit as they get actual self-employment information (1099, etc).
So, the PUA only being the $600 from the Feds…That’s not true
I’m not sure. I am going to try to challenge it, but I got a rejection letter in the mail and there is a form where I can dispute it and send in additional docs, etc. which I will try to do. Very frustrating.
Were you ever successful in getting pua payments from Hawaii? Airbnb is my soul job that supports both myself and my husband. I have applied for pua but they’re asking for income documents or my 2019 tax return (which I haven’t filed yet). Should I file this you’re using schedule C?
Is there a way to get a 1099 from Airbnb even if you have not had over 200 bookings?
Or is there some other type of financial documents you can submit to them?
Is Hawaii even considering Airbnb as employment? (You know how they hate Airbnb here). There’s something on the website that says rental income is passive income and not considered income for pua. However, I do not perform Airbnb as a passive type of employment but rather my sole employment and my daily job.
I’m a host in TX who applied. I submitted my tax return but also bank info showing deposits from Airbnb to my bank. But that was for 2020. I had already submitted my taxes on Schedule C. I don’t think it matters what HI thinks about Airbnb.
Hi Pmadsen,
I was not successful applying for PUA. They replied to me saying that because i have a job at a dr’s clinic ONE DAY a month! that i would be paid according to that $62/week. (if you have a W2 from anywhere, they use that 1st) But i was absolutely fine with it since they were giving the extra $600/week from the federal package. However, that just ended on the 31st. So i will be sending another email in to UI asking for PUA based on my income from Airbnb last year.
When i applied the 1st time, i hadn’t filed my taxes yet, so just sent in my year-to-date income from Airbnb’s site. I don’t remember the forms i filled out at this point, sorry.
My friend in Kona was able to receive PUA for her Airbnb, so no, they can’t discriminate because they don’t like Airbnb here… Although they paid her too much initially and she is dealing with them now having to pay back between $1500-3000! Not sure how that happened.
I don’t know about getting the 1099 if you have less than 200 bookings. I guess you can call or email Airbnb?
Airbnb is also my sole income. and being that there is no way we will be back to normal any time soon here with tourism… i’m hoping they help us out.
I will update this once i go through the re-applying process if i have some better info for you.
Good luck!
