Filing Unemployment?

[trippypea]

Has anyone filed for unemployment before?

I have posted in the past that DH lost his job earlier this year. Because he has been receiving severance payments, we haven't bothered filing for unemployment, since I thought in PA the severance would offset the unemployment benefits and he wouldn't get anything since it's based on the whole 40% of the average annual wage, etc.

It was already hard to find something in his field and even close to the salary he made, and with coronavirus, the opportunities have completely tanked. Even freelance opportunities have dried up. So now we are really worried that he's NOT going to find work.

Should he be filing for unemployment NOW, while they are planning to increase amounts paid for unemployment? Would that count for him at all? Are you able to collect at the same time as severance and if they hold back on X amount of weeks because of your severance do they count as weeks you've applied for benefits or do the weeks you're allowed actually start when you start getting checks?

[buystoys]

I believe it depends on the state, but I collected severance while I was on unemployment.  The company I worked for labeled it as supplemental unemployment so that I could collect both.

I'd go ahead and apply but it might be too late.  It doesn't hurt to try.

[trippypea]

I don't think it's too late because other people I worked with that were unemployed earlier than me waited for six months to apply and were still able to.

Apparently the self-employed can file for unemployment now, and I am wondering if he could apply that way since he has always had self-employment (freelance) while he had a regular job, and has now gone to full freelance while unemployed. He's done about $8000 so far in freelance this year (though isn't get paid for a portion of it until who knows when).