Key strategies

• Allowing independent contractors with steady earnings to opt into state UI plans

• Reforming state-defined eligibility calculations that discourage/penalize non-traditional work:

• Adopt alternative base periods and remove waiting weeks for benefits

• Allow recipients to seek part-time work

• Encourage workforce boards/job centers to train recipients for – and connect them to non-traditional work opportunities

• Creating a job-seekers’ allowance for low-middle income independent contractors, new labor market entrants, and other workers ineligible for traditional UI

• Reimagining UI as a tool to help retrain workers by offering eligible unemployed workers benefits like the following: 

• Training grants for certified short-term programs for in-demand occupations

• Moving vouchers to help defray the cost of relocating to pursue better jobs

• Bonuses if workers land a new job before income support expires