Payment to workers with low income who suffered income loss due to COVID and who are not eligible for Unemployment Insurance (UI) due to immigration status or other factors.

• This is a one time payment for help with income that was lost between March 27, 2020 – April 1, 2021
• Application forms will not include questions about citizenship or immigration status
• You must currently live in New York State and must have lived here before March 27, 2020

• There are 2 Tiers of compensation based on the documents that you can provide
  • Tier 1 can provide up to $15,600 in benefits (minus taxes)
  • Tier 2 can provide up to $3,200 in benefits (minus taxes)
• Benefits will be paid by direct deposit, cash card, check, or another payment method

You may be eligible for the Excluded Workers Fund if you can answer yes to all of these questions:

• Do you currently live in New York State and have you lived here before before March 27, 2020?
• Did you lose income (a certain percentage to be announced) after February 2020 due to COVID-19 for reasons including:
  • losing your job?
  • losing hours at your job?
  • being unable to work because of illness from the virus?
• Are you not eligible for Unemployment Insurance (UI) or Economic Impact Payments (EIP) due to your citizenship status?
• Have you earned less than $26,208 in the 12 months before April 2021?

Additionally, you may be eligible if a person who was the major source of income in your household died or became unable to work because of illness from the virus.

There are 2 tiers of compensation based on the documents that you can provide. If you are not eligible for Tier 1, you may be eligible for Tier 2.

Any documents that are not in English should also have a certified English translation.

Tier 1 can provide up to $15,600 (minus taxes) in total benefits.

These are the documents you need to apply:

• Tax returns for tax years 2018, 2019, or 2020 with a valid Individual Taxpayer Identification (ITIN) number or
• W-2 or 1099 forms for tax years 2019 or 2020 or
• Employment letter with dates of work and the reason for no longer being employed or
• 6 weeks or more of pay stubs or wage statements from the 6 month period before you lost income or
• Wage Theft Prevention Act (WPTA) Wage Notice given by employer at time of hiring showing that you were employed in the 6 months before you lost income

You will also need the following (more details below):

• proof of who you are
• proof of where you live

If you are not eligible for Tier 1, you may be eligible for Tier 2.

Tier 2 can provide up to $3,200 (minus taxes) in total benefits and requires:

• proof of who you are
• proof of where you live
• other proof of work and income