Some self-employed or independent contractors in Wisconsin have been waiting up to four months for benefits under the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance plan.
The PUA covers non-traditional workers not normally eligible for unemployment benefits.
The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development confirms that only about 10 percent of 70,000 applicants had received benefits.
According to DWD, it takes longer to determine eligibility and the amount of benefit the applicant should receive, a difficult process that can’t be streamlined.