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Weekly Certification Instructions for PUA Eligible Claims
Many workers in NJ have never before filed for unemployment assistance. The process can be confusing.
Once you have been notified that your claim is ready to be processed, please read this guide to ensure you receive your benefits without delay.
NEW CERTIFIERS: If you received notification this week that your claim is payable, certify during your assigned time (see below).
Before you begin, get the following ready:
- Your Social Security number (SSN) and PIN (NOTE: if you haven’t yet created a PIN for your claim, you will have the opportunity to do that when you certify for the first time)
- Printed/accessible instructions to answer the certifying questions
- Something to take notes with
- Your patience
NEW CERTIFIERS: If you received notification that your claim is payable, check our schedule page before you certify. Each week, the day and times to certify are staggered by Social Security number (SSN). The day and time assigned to your SSN may change, so check the schedule page each week.
If you miss your assigned time, there is a second window of time that is open to your SSN later on your assigned day.
Additionally, Friday and Saturday are open to certify for any Social Security number. If you miss these time slots, you may use the following week’s assigned time to certify for both the current and past week.
Answering these weekly certification questions differently than described in the instructions will delay payment and might require the help of an agent. Please use the certification question guidelines to answer the certification questions. It is vital that you review the guidelines, and keep them available and open to you as you continue the weekly process.
NEW CERTIFIERS: If you received notification this week that your claim is payable, certify during your assigned time (see #1, above).
At the top of the page, in the dark blue bar, you'll see a link that says $ Certify for weekly benefits.
You'll be taken to the most current schedule page. After verifying the time slot(s) assigned to your Social Security Number, click the link that says "Certify for weekly benefits."
In order to certify for federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits each week, you are required to select the reason that your employment has been impacted by coronavirus. You may choose more than one option.
Please read and attest to your understanding that fraud is a crime. You must acknowledge the terms of the fraud warning at the bottom of the page.
Certain answers to certain questions will delay payment. Please use the certification question guidelines to answer appropriately to avoid a delay in your payment.
Again, review these guidelines, keep them available, and use them, question by question, to complete your weekly certification process.
After completing the seven certifying questions and clicking “Submit,” a page appears with a confirmation number.
At the bottom of the page, in the center, you will see a button labeled “Claim Additional Week” if you have not certified yet all the weeks available to you, up to the current date. (See example below.) If that button appears, click on it so that you can certify for benefits for another week. The button will continue to appear until you have certified for all past weeks available on your claim.
For each week you certify, from April 4th through July 25th, you will also receive the $600 additional federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation; no additional steps or application is required.
Finally, revisit the schedule page each Saturday to see when exactly you should certify for the following week.
