Search Newsroom

On Friday, November 21, President George W. Bush extended the emergency unemployment compensation (EUC) package approved in July that provides additional unemployment benefits for jobless workers who have exhausted their regular benefits. This extension will add up to seven (7) additional weeks to previously filed EUC claims, bringing the maximum number of weeks a claimant can draw emergency unemployment compensation once regular benefits have expired to 20 weeks. More than 8,000 Oklahomans are expected to be impacted by this announcement.

Oklahomans can begin applying for the emergency unemployment compensation extension on Monday, December 1, 2008. If a claimant has exhausted regular benefits and is now receiving EUC, no action is required. The extension will simply be added on to the current EUC claim. Those who have exhausted their EUC will be issued a new eligibility determination reflecting the extended benefits. In order to receive the EUC extension, these claimants must first file for a week of unemployment benefits and then call the Unemployment Insurance Service Center to reopen the claim. This process cannot be completed online. Those currently drawing regular unemployment benefits must first exhaust these benefits before contacting the UI Service Center to file a preliminary EUC claim.

That preliminary claim will reflect the EUC extension.
Claimants can contact the state Unemployment Insurance Service Centers by calling 525-1500 in the Oklahoma City
metropolitan area or (800) 555-1554 outside the OKC calling area. UI Service Center hours will be expanded to 8
a.m. until 6:30 p.m. December 1 through December 4 to handle the increased workload.

If a claimant has moved since exhausting regular benefits and hasn't updated their contact information, it is important that the claimant contact the UI Service Center about the extension and how it affects them.

About OESC - The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission is Oklahoma's state workforce agency. OESC
provides unemployment compensation to support unemployed workers and their communities; matches jobs and workers to benefit local labor markets; refers workers to training opportunities; and gathers, analyzes and distributes information about the labor force to improve local economic decisions.