Unemployment claims just hit their highest level in months, Republicans are still refusing to negotiate a stimulus package that does half what the country needs, and people who have been unemployed for months are increasingly desperate. Only the government can truly help unemployed people, but the National Employment Law Project’s Michele Evermore has three pieces of advice for unemployed workers in the coming weeks. It’s not cheerful news, but it’s worth knowing.

First, “If you have received a [Pandemic Unemployment Assistance] overpayment notice, you are not alone.” But you do have the right to appeal. Second, know that both PUA and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation are slated to end on December 26 (Merry Christmas and a happy New Year, everyone!), and if Congress extends them at the last minute, there will likely still be a lapse.

”The takeaway is that, if Congress extends CARES Act benefits, you may have to wait through part of January to get access to benefits that stopped at the end of December,” Evermore writes. “And again, if Congress passes relief, it has historically been structured so that your benefits are restored beginning the date of enactment. So there shouldn’t be a gap in your eligibility if that happens, just a gap in when you get paid.”

Finally, no matter what happens: organize, organize, organize. Make sure this kind of congressional contempt for millions of struggling people doesn’t happen again.

This blog originally appeared at Daily Kos on December 12, 2020. Reprinted with permission.

About the Author: Laura Clawson has been a contributing editor since December 2006. Clawson has been full-time staff since 2011, and is currently assistant managing editor at the Daily Kos.