The Guam Department of Labor has received its first allotment of $276 million from the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) for pandemic unemployment benefit, according to the Joint Information Center.
USDOL transferred $174 million to Guam’s pandemic grant for the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program and $102 million for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program.
This initial allotment is part of the $924 million supplemental budget request USDOL approved for Guam’s pandemic unemployment benefits.
As the funds draw down, USDOL will post another allotment to PMS. Originally slated to be in Guam's account last week, USDOL experienced system issues when trying to process the first allotment. The funds have now been processed and posted into the Health and Human Services Payment Management System.
The governor's office said GDOL is preparing to launch the PUA and FPUC online application shortly.
In anticipation of the PUA employee model launch, GDOL is notifying financial institutions of the influx of millions of dollars in federal money that will be disbursed to eligible recipients within the coming weeks. Based on guidance from GDOL, the Guam Bankers Association will be advising island residents that are seeking PUA benefits to consider direct deposit by opening a bank account now.
They are also advising island residents to collect any necessary account information and access hireguam.com to sign up for direct deposit. Other financial institutions can email rapidresponse@dol.guam.gov if they want to seek further guidance from GDOL on the release of PUA funding.