On Friday, the CT Department of Labor added two more phone lines for claimants to call into so that someone will be able to help them with their claims. Despite the additional numbers, people still couldn’t get through. FOX61’s Taylor DiChello had the chance to ask the governor about this Tuesday (5/19) morning.
“I think we’re making progress every day, but I understand the frustration when you’re on the phone,” says Governor Lamont. “We’re trying to deal with that every day.”
You are emailing us with your frustrations.
- Leila Keenan "My unemployment has not been processed. I tried email and no one answers. I've made numerous attempts to call and after busy signal and finally getting through it rings and no one picks up. I sat with it ringing for 3 1/2 hours."
- Ernest Gatison "The phone number you guys were providing on the news just hangs up when you call. This is now two months with no income. Please help, I am getting nowhere. I have emailed the Governor more than once with no response as well."
- Dawn Montenieri "If you're lucky enough to get through to the number (which I was told to call from one of the job centers), all it does is ring. Last night I let it ring for 1 hour 42 minutes and no one picks up. What are you supposed to do?"
- Kevin Sinnott "I still haven't heard from anyone at the DOL. I have called the appropriate numbers ad nauseum to no avail. I have emailed the DOL multiple times to no avail. I have contacted the state to no avail."
- Leah Smith "I've been emailing, I filled out the form on the PUA assistance website, and I call the offices multiple times a day. I've only gotten trough to a ringing phone one time and it rang for 45 minutes before I hung up. I've received no responses to any emails. I'm home with three kids and starting to get a little desperate about this situation..."
May 14 the DOL announced they were adding dozens of people to help man phones over the next coming weeks.
Still, the Governor did not give a clear answer as to whether he was going to ramp up communications to the same unprecedented levels the department of labor has seen claims rise to.
“It’s ramped up. We’ve done over 500,000 claims. We’re getting the gig workers, the independent contractors, most states aren’t even beginning to get those claims out. The federal government set up a brand new program and then said, go deal with it. Connecticut is one of the first states to be able to get those claims out,” says Lamont.
We are reading every single one of your emails.
