Railroaders Laid Off Due to Covid-19 Orders Can Get Unemployment

Railroad employees who are out of work because of state and local stay-at-home orders related to the Covid-19 outbreak are now eligible for unemployment compensation benefits.

People who apply for unemployment benefits generally must be available for work. Under an interim final rule issued by the federal Railroad Retirement Board on Tuesday, railroad workers who aren’t working between March 1 and Dec. 31 because of state and local orders intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus are eligible for the benefits. Before the rule was issued, these workers weren’t eligible.

There are about 200,000 railroad workers in the U.S., ...