COLORADO – According to the state labor department, there are more than 53,000 federal workers in the state of Colorado. Roughly 23,000 of those are missing paychecks and they’re being affected by the partial government shutdown.
More than 10 percent of the state’s eligible federal workers and contractors have filed unemployment claims, bringing the total filed by Friday afternoon to more than 2,400. Colorado has now paid more than $100,00 in unemployment benefits to federal workers.
The numbers are expected to rise in the coming weeks after Governor Jared Polis issued an emergency rule expanding unemployment eligibility to an additional 8,000 federal workers who have been working without pay since the shutdown began on December 22nd.
Many businesses and organizations are stepping up to help furloughed employees and Pikes Peak 211 has been very busy trying to help people find the resources that they need. They don’t have a lot of resources for rent and mortgage assistance and they’re working to provide other places that might be able to help.
It typically takes 4-6 weeks to start getting unemployment, but some claims have already been processed. Unfortunately, none of that money can be approved for furloughed employees having to work, without pay, for more than 32 hours a week.
