Kokua Line: Can federal workers on job without pay get unemployment benefits?

Question: What about the federal workers who are not furloughed but are forced to stay on the job and work without pay? Are they eligible to file for unemployment insurance?

Answer: “No. Excepted employees who continue working full time during a shutdown are not considered unemployed, so they are not eligible for UCFE benefits,” Chavonnie Ramos, a spokesperson for Hawaii’s Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, said in an email.

UCFE is Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees.

Excepted federal employees include active-duty military personnel, plus others whose work is deemed essential to safeguard life or property or is otherwise mandated by law, and whose pay is tied to annual budget appropriations. Excepted employees work without pay during the federal budget impasse.

They are not the same as exempt employees, who work and get paid during the shutdown because they are paid out of special fees or multiyear accounts, not annual appropriations.

By contrast, furloughed employees (nonexcepted) are those whose work is deemed nonessential to safeguarding life or property and whose pay is tied to annual appropriations. They have nonduty, nonpay status during the shutdown, and, as we’ve previously said (808ne.ws/3J3yj94), are eligible to apply for UCFE. If they are paid retroactively for the furlough period they must repay UI benefits received for the same period.

On Friday, the Trump administration began laying off thousands of federal employees; they too would be eligible for UCFE.

Q: I have a tenant asking for a break because she said her husband (active military) won’t be getting his housing allowance. Is this true? I’m not in the military.

A: We can’t vouch for a specific tenant, but yes, it’s true that federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, can’t pay excepted or furloughed employees during a lapse in appropriations. This includes the payment of the Basic Allowance for Housing that many military members in Hawaii use to pay landlords to live in off-base rental housing.

The federal government shutdown began Oct. 1, after Congress failed to appropriate a budget for fiscal year 2026 or pass a short-term funding bill.

Q: Med-QUEST is supposed to cover some dental treatment but how do we find a dentist who takes Medicaid?

A: One option is to call the Community Case Management Corp. for the names of Hawaii dentists enrolled to treat Medicaid patients. On Oahu, call 808-792-1070. On the neighbor islands, call 888-792-1070 toll-free.

Med-QUEST is the division of the state Department of Human Services that administers health care benefits for Hawaii residents eligible for Medicaid, the joint federal- and state-funded coverage for low-income people and some other patients.

Since 2023, its dental coverage for adults 21 and older has included preventative services, diagnostic and radiology services, endodontic therapy services, restorative services, oral surgery, periodontal therapy services, prosthodontic services and emergency and palliative treatment, according to the MED-Quest website.

For those under 21, dental coverage includes diagnostic and preventive services once every six months and nonemergency endodontic therapy, oral surgery, periodontic therapy, prosthodontic services and restorations, it says.

For more information, go to medquest.hawaii.gov.

Speed tables

Speed tables will be installed on the ramps of the Meheula Parkway Interchange this week, causing overnight lane and ramp closures, according to the state Department of Transportation. Starting Monday night, crews will close the right lane on the southbound Meheula Parkway on- and off-ramps from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. On Tuesday, crews will close the northbound off-ramp from Meheula Parkway to the H-2 Freeway from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. Concurrently, there will be a lane shift along the southbound on- and off-ramps. On Wednesday, a single lane will close on the northbound Meheula Parkway off-ramp to the H-2 Freeway from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m.

Mahalo

My grandma came home and told me what happened when she went shopping at Times Kaneohe. She had picked up a few items and was at the self-checkout and realized she had forgotten her purse. All flustered, she asked the cashier if she “can leave this on the side and will be back with her wallet.” As she was leaving the cashier came running out and said “come back.” She said that lady paid for it. My grandma, embarrassed, tried to get Ms. Kristine’s number, but she said “don’t worry.” My grandma apologized, but Ms. Kristine said, “You don’t have to say sorry, this my gift.” My grandma wants to say “Mahalo from this grateful senior.” — A reader

Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 2-200, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email [email protected].