Iowa Workforce Development Communications
For Immediate Release
Date: May 15, 2024
Contact: Jesse Dougherty
Telephone: 515-725-5487
Email: communications@iwd.iowa.gov
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DES MOINES, IOWA β Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) is now available to eligible individuals as a result of a Major Disaster Declaration signed by President Biden on May 14, 2024. Iowa Workforce Development is accepting applications for DUA from individuals in Clarke, Harrison, Mills, Polk, Pottawattamie, Ringgold, Shelby and Union Counties whose employment or self-employment was lost or interrupted due to severe storms beginning April 26, 2024.
DUA expands eligibility for unemployment benefits and provides assistance to the self-employed, including business owners and farmers. Applications for DUA must be filed by July 13, 2024.
Eligibility
To be eligible for DUA benefits under Presidential Disaster Declaration FEMA-[DR-4779-IA], individuals:
- Must be an unemployed or self-unemployed worker whose unemployment was caused as a direct result of the major disaster declared by the President; and
- Must be a U.S. national or a qualified alien; and
- Must be unable to qualify for regular unemployment insurance benefits from any state; and
- Must have worked, been self-employed in, or been scheduled to begin work or self-employment in one of the counties listed above; and
- Must establish that the work or self-employment they can no longer perform was their primary source of income.
Also eligible to apply for DUA are individuals who:
- Can no longer work or perform services because of physical damage or destruction to their place of employment as a direct result of a disaster; or
- Cannot perform work or self-employment because of an injury caused as a direct result of the disaster; or
- Became the breadwinner or major support of a household because of the death of the head of the household; or
- Cannot work or perform self-employment due to closure of a facility by the federal government.
What You Need
- Individuals will need their Social Security Number and the name and address of their last employer or prospective employer to file for DUA.
- Applicants are required to provide proof (at the time of filing or within 21 days of filing their DUA claim) that they were employed or self-employed at the time the disaster occurred or were scheduled to begin (or resume) a job or self-employment when the disaster occurred.
- A copy of the most recent federal income tax forms or check stubs may also be required (self-employed individuals should also provide Schedules SE and Schedule C or Schedule F).
Deadline
Applications filed after July 13, 2024, will be considered untimely, unless the individual provides good cause for filing after this date. Individuals can receive up to 29 weeks of DUA benefits as long as his/her unemployment continues to be a result of the disaster. Eligibility for DUA benefits will be determined on a week-to-week basis.
How To Apply
Individuals who may be eligible for assistance, must file a claim online with Iowa Workforce Developmentβs Unemployment Benefits Online Application System (workforce.iowa.gov).
If assistance is needed over the phone, please call IWD Customer Service at 1-866-239-0843, 8:00 am β 4:30 pm. After a claim application has been submitted, refer to the additional DUA information on our website at this link.