A bill has been signed by the Governor that removes COVID-19 related layoffs from the unemployment experience account.  Danbury State Senator Julie Kushner says the measure seeks to limit further fiscal issues amid an already difficult economy.

As the unemployment experience rate depends on the amount of benefits former employees received in the three previous years, Kushner says the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on unemployment could serve to cause further financial damage to businesses already struggling with economic downturn.  For regular employers, their experience period will disregard benefit charges and taxable wages during the 2019-2021 time period when applicable.

From March 13th to June 15th 2020, Connecticut received more than 600,000 new unemployment claims, with as much as $884 million paid out in unemployment benefits during that time.