11/07/2023
COMING SOON: $384 in weekly DUA for workers displaced by Mawar • News release from the governor's office
The Guam Department of Labor (GDOL) is preparing to launch Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) in the coming weeks. Pursuant to the provisions of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act), Guam has been authorized for an initial obligation of $876,374.00 for administrative costs to implement the unemployment assistance program. With the administrative costs approved by FEMA and the U.S. Department of Labor, GDOL can now provide the final parameters for its software vendor to program the Guam DUA system.
“The GDOL has been actively surveying our business sector to provide the supporting information to secure this funding source. According to the data collected last month, GDOL estimates as much as 14% of the workforce, or 7,000 individuals, will apply for this aid, hundreds of whom are farmers and fishermen,” said Governor Lou Leon Guerrero. “Similar to Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), we look forward to providing support and much needed relief to our residents who lost wages or their jobs as a result of this disaster.”
“The funding used to program this DUA system for Guam will benefit Guam for future disasters as having the DUA framework set up would drastically improve implementation time should another disaster need to be declared,” said Lt. Governor Josh Tenorio. “With these lessons learned and systems in place, we continue to build our resiliency as a people and an island.”
The Weekly Assistance Amount for all workers in Guam is $384 for each week of total unemployment, retroactive back to May 28. The DUA program will be an automated system similar to PUA, so filing online will be required. While the DUA program has not yet officially launched, affected persons with...
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