Pennsylvanians who have lost their jobs or had hours cut due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic can receive $300 per week in additional unemployment insurance benefits.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved the state's application for roughly $1.5 billion from the Lost Wages Assistance program, which provides for an additional $300 per week in unemployment benefits to jobless Pennsylvanians.

Eligible workers are those who receive at least $100 per week in either regular or pandemic-related unemployment compensation. The payments will be made retroactive to Aug. 1.

They also must certify that they lost their job or hours due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While a lesser dollar amount, this program supplants the federal pandemic unemployment benefits of an additional $600 per week to unemployed workers. It will be extant for at least three weeks or until the $1.5 billion is exhausted, and cannot last beyond Dec. 27.

Pennsylvania must implement a new system to process these payments, as the money was diverted from FEMA's storm disaster relief fund. There was no announced timeline as to when that system would be created.

The Department of Labor and Industry “is working as quickly as possible to evaluate what it will take to implement this program and begin paying the $300 weekly supplement in Pennsylvania, while awaiting final program guidance from the federal government,” labor secretary Jamie Oleksiak said in a Tuesday statement. “We will get this money into the pockets of the eligible Pennsylvanians who need it and will be sure to keep everyone updated throughout this complex process.”