Unemployment claims swamp staff

Officials say changes putting department back on track

Dealing with the flood of coronavirus-related unemployment claims is an all-hands-on-deck endeavor for the state Department of Labor and Industry, and then some.

In a call with media Monday afternoon, Secretary of Labor and Industry Jerry Oleksiak said the COVID-19 pandemic has led to more than 1.3 million unemployment claims by Pennsylvania workers.

That’s a mountain more than normal, he said, explaining that in the three weeks prior to a statewide shutdown of businesses the department saw a total of about 40,000 claims.

The volume of claims, as well as phone calls and emails seeking information and guidance, has overwhelmed the 600-employee

department, causing significant delays in processing claims and responding to questions. But, Oleksiak said, additional help is putting the department back on track.

The department is adding 100 new staff, borrowing employees from other governmental departments, rehiring recent retirees and using IBM’s Watson artificial intelligence platform. Watson has already answered about 5,000 calls, Oleksiak said.

Still, the system is seeing delays.

“We know that even with that there are still frustrated citizens

trying to get through,” Oleksiak said. “We understand that, we feel that frustration, too. They are our friends, our relatives, our cousins, our neighbors, our community members. And we are in the business of helping them.”

Despite the progress the department has made, many people are continuing to struggle to get in touch with the department for days or weeks at a time. Oleksiak said he understands the difficulties that causes.

“It’s simply a matter of volume,” he said. “We are doing all we can, we want to get back to these peo

ple. We want to let them know, we want to get them their benefits.

“We will continue to look for ways to improve that period. Keep at it, be persistent. We do want to get to you.”

Dickinson said the department is getting 10,000 to 15,000 emails per day, along with 12,000 to 14,000 calls per day.

One a bright note, unemployment compensation benefits policy director Susan Dickinson said, the department has caught up on sending out PINs to people who have filed a claim. The PINs are used to file bi-weekly claims that result in people receiving their unemployment payments.

Dickinson said that under normal circumstances those PINs are received in five to seven days. During the coronavirus crisis, it’s taking closer to three weeks.

But with a flurry of work over the weekend, the department was caught up on sending out those numbers by Monday morning, Dickinson said. Any new unemployment filings should now result in a PIN being revived within the standard five to seven days.

“Now that the mailings are caught up there shouldn’t be any lag,” she said.

Anyone who has filed for unemployment who hasn’t yet received their PIN the mail should not reapply, Dickinson said, but instead wait a few more days until it arrives.

Oleksiak said people who’s PINs are delayed will not risk missing out on benefits. Payments will be backdated to when they first filed.

Dickinson said another positive development is that the federal disaster relief unemployment program that covers workers not typically covered by normal unemployment should be up and running within two weeks.

That programs covers people who are self-employed, or socalled “gig workers” who work on a freelance basis. Dickinson said the department is working with a vendor to get a website up and running for that program, and will provide more information on it on the department’s website.