AURORA | Emilio Fernandez has worked for a restaurant chain for eight years and signed up with Rover, an online dog walking service, to pad his income. Then the coronavirus hit.
Now the Denver resident works one shift a week at the restaurant. He’s stopped walking dogs, fearing he’ll get sick by entering unknown people’s homes to pick up and drop off their pets.
“I’ve worked hard my entire life. I’ve all but stopped working and we all are trying to figure out how to make ends meet,” Fernandez said Friday. “And gig workers have to have some access to unemployment insurance.”
Some help may be on its way for Fernandez, who spoke at a virtual press conference organized by the AFL-CIO of Colorado, even as Colorado’s unemployment claims keep setting records and one state analyst says there’s no end in sight.
Thanks in part to the federal coronavirus emergency package, Colorado and other states are preparing to expand the categories of workers displaced by the virus who are eligible for assistance and increase payments.
Colorado will offer unemployment payments to gig workers, independent contractors and others currently not eligible. Benefits will rise from an average $600 a week to $1,000. Requirements that applicants certify they’re seeking work are suspended, said Cher Haavind, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
It won’t alleviate today’s suffering; displaced workers may not see expanded benefits until mid-April.
A month ago, Colorado fielded 2,000 initial unemployment filings a week. Now it’s fielding up to 20,000 a day. Preliminary figures suggest more than 61,000 people applied through Thursday, easily topping last week’s record of 19,745 initial claims.
The previous state record was 7,749 at the height of the Great Recession in 2010, said Ryan Gedney, senior economist for the labor department.
“I would say we’re just seeing the beginning of this, to be honest,” Gedney said.
At least 24 people have died from COVID-19 in Colorado and more than 1,430 people have tested positive.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death. The vast majority of people recover.
Should demand deplete the state unemployment trust fund, which is funded by employer contributions, Colorado will seek a no-interest loan from the federal government, as all states did during the Great Recession, Gedney said.
A statewide shelter-in-place order, closures of “non-essential” businesses, bans on in-house restaurant dining and closures of ski resorts, national parks and other tourist destinations accelerated Colorado’s unemployment claims. Gov. Jared Polis insists the measures not only can reduce the virus’ transmission rate but ensure Colorado’s robust economy can quickly recover once the threat passes.
State figures released Friday show nearly 3.2 million people had jobs in this state of 5.8 million in February. The unemployment rate was 2.5%.
Polis, a Democrat, has encouraged small firms to apply for low-interest emergency loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration. He directed state agencies and urged employers to offer temporary paid leave for Colorado workers who get sick. Sick leave allows them to recover at home and more quickly return to the workforce.
It’s something Ruben Tim Martinez, a Colorado Springs grocery store worker, says is essential for workers like himself who have found themselves on the front line of the pandemic.
“We did not sign up to be emergency first responders. But that is what we are,” Martinez said. “We, too, have children who are no longer in school and are at risk of getting sick. We don’t have the luxury of social distancing or staying at home.”