Kansas is adjusting policies for unemployment benefits connected to COVID-19.
Residents receiving benefits now have to enter the state’s My (Re)Employment Plan through KansasWorks if they receive payments for three straight weeks. Residents in this category will have to create an account on www.kansasworks.com, including resume, work history, skills list and job search plan for employers to look through. Residents who do not enter this program as required can be denied unemployment money.
Claimants will be emailed with a full list of requirements they need to fulfill.
This comes as Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has been meeting with business leaders across the state, many of whom have been asking Kansas to end a federal bonus on payments. They say residents are getting more through benefits than salaries, so they can’t find workers to fill jobs.
For her part, the governor says the state still has almost 60,000 available jobs, and with around 34,000 people obtaining benefits as part of the Kansas Department of Labor’s most recent report, there would still be job openings even if everybody went back to work. She also says other factors are involved, including low wages, health care and childcare availability.
