Boulder is as town packed with entrepreneurs, freelancers, and contract workers of all types and, like many, these people are under extreme financial straights during the pandemic. Fortunately, the CARES act passed by Congress provides unemployment benefits for those workers, however Colorado currently has no system in place to file as a freelancer/contract worker.

Here is the current message provided on the Colorado.gov unemployment webpage:

“Update as of April 12, 2020: We are still programming our systems to begin accepting claims for workers who are eligible for benefits related to the CARES Act, including those who are self-employed (retroactive as far back as February 2 or when your work stopped as a direct result of COVID-19).”