Self-employed North Carolinians eligible to file for unemployment assistance under CARES Act

April 25, 2020

WWAY News,

RALEIGH (WTVD) — Starting Friday, thousands of North Carolinians now have the opportunity to apply for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) through North Carolina’s Division of Employment Security. The eligibility comes amid funding provided by Congress as part of the recently passed CARES Act.

Eligible applicants are able to apply on the DES website. To determine eligibility, applicants must meet the following:

Who are unable to work as a direct result of COVID-19
Are not eligible for regular state unemployment benefits, such as independent contractors or self-employed workers

The Division of Employment Security recommends applicants have all of their necessary documents when applying to avoid any delay in processing. DES identifies examples of those documents as: