The Connecticut Department of Labor provided an update for how it's managing the crush of unemployment claims Thursday morning
The updates are on the technology the agency implemented to help speed up and process unemployment claims. Timelines will also be reviewed for providing additional federal stimulus benefits, including Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.
FOX61's Taylor DiChello was on the call, while some questions were asked:
Q: Self-employed now included in benefits. What's happening with them?
A: Hope by April 30th to have the system up and running
Q: Can you file a claim without access to internet?
A: People staffing phones have a system- take info down and someone within 5 days gets call back.
Q: Phone calls as well- once they get through to someone they can't get answers on their specific complaints.
A: General assistance phone line are not processors. They help walk people through the application process.
Q: Self-employed have to refile April 30 if they already filed?
A: No one will not have to refile. Will show 0 wages because they're self-employed.
Q: People advised to put in return to work date that have come and gone and now can't change date and unable to file missed week claim.
A: We know this is a problem. Currently looking for patterns/bugs to fix. Could be a lot of reasons.
Q: Receiving benefits and they stop, account on hold, then get code 108 H. Should they go to online assistance?
A: Code 108 tells claim is being held. We see them and manually go in one-by-one, looking at them, and resetting them. Getting to them in bunches. Income not figured in to benefits because they're not eligible for state benefits-- but they are for federal. Whatever they get is retroactive to when they applied. System still being built though
Q: Danger of running out of money? What happens and when will that be?
A: Don't think there will be concern of running out. We borrowed more than $1B during Great Recession.
We follow that procedure.
Q: Unemployment extension from 26-39 weeks?
A: System being built out now. Benefits will be added on to existing 26 week claims- Mid May hope to have that up and running
Q: Federal Government says 26 million Americans out of work. Any indication how many in CT out of work?
A: Last report @CTDOL issued 4/16 based on surveys taken before March 13. That was 3.7%- obviously not that.
Next report will be May 21 and will reflect reality.
Q: People whose unemployment has run out but can't file for extensions-- How soon can you get extension?
A: They should wait until we give them info on website. Continually updating website in terms of various programs. Waiting for instructions on that. No point in applying now. Just not built yet. It'll be retro back to March 29 for people who are eligible.
Q: How many people total taking calls now?
A: 25 people to answer general info. Not able to process claims. They can talk people through common mistakes, help as they file their own application on phone or computer.
Q: Done everything right, goes to DOL website every day, claim active til August and then March 28 put on hold. How many people put on hold during the middle of COVID crisis. Any on hold made active?
A: 500-1,000/day flagging and looking into. We have found every situation has common mistakes. People forgetting to file one week and it says 0 wages and flags system to stop it. Maybe they've gone back to work and have to look into that. Someone checking off "not available" to work one week- gets flagged. Have to be able to work that week to get unemployment so the system automatically flags it.
Q: Asking about $600/wk payment supposed to start Friday. Will errors in system impact that?
A: It will be automatic and we expect to get payments out next week. Payments going forward and shortly after that will be adding retro payments, if applicable, to any claimants.
Q: How many emails received and how many responded?
A: Answering them at a rate of more than 3,000 per day.
Q: Not getting questions answered on email or phone, what can they do?
A: Answering over 3,000 emails a day. Going from 6wk backlog to 1 week. Grabbing batches of claims with common scenario if they're on a hold or shutdown. Have 500-1,000 ppl a day working on individual changes
Q: Do you have a plan in place for after this is over to continually update the system so in the next 40 years we’re not working with an antiquated program?
A: Re-employ CT sharing with 4 other states scheduled to be ready by May 2021. Will be kept up to date
Q: Even if you have quadrupled staff— is DOL looking into hiring more?
A: yes looking to hire more. hiring 3 waves of 20ppl- 60 over next few weeks. As we bring down the # pending to be processed- the wait is dropping.
Q: For self-employed who wait to file- will they get retroactive payments as well?
A: Yes
Q: Gig workers- is income factored into unemployment benefits? Can't apply for federal money?
A: Gig worked included in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance being built out now. Not only gig workers, contractors, self-employed too. They CAN get federal monday.
The Department of Labor also issued this press release regarding updates:
WETHERSFIELD – The Connecticut Department of Labor provided $83 million in benefits this past week and has now processed 327,000 of the 402,000 applications the agency has received since March 13, when unemployment began to spike due to the pandemic and resulting business closures. In the past five weeks, the agency has now provided $230 million in unemployment benefits.
“Our new automation programming has allowed us to process over 100,000 applications for benefits, which has made a tremendous difference since the agency is handling more applications that we would typically receive in two years,” said State Labor Commissioner Kurt Westby. “Although we continue to receive thousands of new applications every day, the new automation allows our staff to focus on more complex claims that must be manually processed.”
According to Westby, the agency is on target for reducing the processing time of claim applications from six weeks to one week by April 27. He noted that additional enhancements are ongoing, with a goal to apply automation to more complex claims to further speed up processing efforts.
“The task was complicated, due to our 40-year-old mainframe that uses a COBOL operation system,” Westby said. “In addition to the tremendous work accomplished by our staff, we are grateful to partner agencies, especially the Department of Administrative Services and Bureau of Enterprise Systems and Technology, for their expertise and being part of the solution.”
Westby noted that the team continues to complete programming, in addition to developing new systems to accommodate the three federal stimulus programs for unemployment insurance. This includes programing for Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) that will allow the agency to add the additional $600 to weekly state benefit payments, and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) that provides benefits for self-employed individuals. FPUC is scheduled to begin the week of April 27, and the agency expects to begin accepting applications for PUA by April 30 with both programs to be retroactive.
The third federal program, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) is a 13-week federal extension that will allow eligible claimants to collect the additional weeks after exhausting the 26 weeks of state benefits. The agency plans to have this system in operation by mid-May.
As part of its commitment to the public, agency staff are working 12-hour days and responding to 3,000 emails daily that have been received through CTDOL’s Online Assistance Center and Webhelp email systems. General information phone lines staffed by more than 25 employees offer online guidance to hundreds of additional residents requesting help with filing an application.
The agency reminds those that have recently filed an application for unemployment benefits to look for an email from the Labor Department that advises of next steps for filing a weekly claim. This includes checking any spam or junk email boxes. It also recommends claimants select direct deposit for receiving benefits since this is the quickest method. Those choosing direct deposit will have their benefits sent directly to a checking or savings account of their choice within two business days after a claim application has been processed and approved for payment. In contrast, due to the national pandemic, a shortage of debit cards is causing up to a four-week delay when the bank issues the cards.
“During this time of uncertainly, we know a weekly benefit payment can help remove much of the anxiety when it can be used to pay bills or buy food,” Westby said. “While we can never be totally prepared for the impact a pandemic can have on our community, the dedicated Labor Department staff continue to implement new methods and ideas so we can help assist Connecticut’s families as quickly as possible.”