On Thursday, the Delaware Department of Labor (DOL) announced plans to take up to six weeks before independent contractors and self-employed workers impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak could apply for unemployment benefits.
After First State Update first reported the agencies’ plans, House Minority Leader Danny Short (R-Seaford) and House Minority Whip Tim Dukes (R-Laurel) took issue with the delay. In a letter sent to the DOL Sec. Cade on behalf of the House Republican Caucus, Reps. Short & Dukes said they found the three to six-week time frame to be “disconcerting.”
They noted that the CARES Act was signed into law nearly three weeks ago.
“We are requesting that the DOL take immediate action to implement a short-term, stopgap plan to assist Delaware’s sole proprietors,” the pair wrote. “These small businesses — many of which are the backbone of our economy — are, quite literally, dying on the vine.”
Reps. Short & Dukes asked the DOL to provide information on how other states have already successfully implemented systems for getting benefits to unemployed independent contractors and entrepreneurs.
