Payments to gig workers delayed

Judge ‘pleased’ with efforts of DETR

It may take until Monday, at the earliest, for some independent contractors and self-employed workers with frozen unemployment insurance benefits to again receive payments, according to Nevada’s employment agency.

The Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation indicated in a Thursday court hearing it is working to pay those workers under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, but the process to do so takes time.

A Nevada judge ordered the department last week to begin payments on Tuesday to all workers, with some exceptions for eligibility and fraud, who previously received PUA benefits but then had them frozen. State attorney Greg Ott said more than 30,600 workers’ claims were frozen, but about 3,000 appear legitimate and people could resume receiving benefits next week.

“The earliest possible date, I believe, would be Monday,” Employment Security Division Administrator Kimberly Gaa told the Second Judicial District Court. She said that she wasn’t sure when all “batches” of claims would be released, as the process to approve these payments would typically take between one or two weeks to pay.

Judge Barry Breslow scheduled Thursday’s hearing to determine whether DETR is complying with his order and getting money into

the hands of those who are eligible. Breslow also ordered DETR last week to consider eligible gig workers who worked fewer hours but had completely stopped working due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But Ott said Thursday the department was now paying all eligible workers who fall into that category.

The hearing was part of a lawsuit filed in May on behalf of gig workers seeking immediate payment of pending PUA claims.

Though DETR did not make Breslow’s Tuesday payment deadline, he said he was so far “pleased” with the department’s efforts to

comply with his order.

Still, the judge said he was concerned claims were taking too long to process.

“Whether that concern rises to the level that the court finds that DETR is abusing its discretion or otherwise is failing to comply with its obligations under the law, we’re not there yet on these other issues, but they’re still in play,” Breslow said.

He ordered a special hearing master, attorney Jason Guinasso, to work with DETR and the plaintiffs to identify just how much progress DETR is making.

Guinasso, of Hutchison & Steffen attorneys, is set to produce a report in about two weeks on his findings. He suggested mediating ongoing conversations between DETR and

the plaintiffs to ensure compliance and discuss the best ways to address the backlog.

“I think everybody’s shared interest, whether it’s DETR or the plaintiffs or the court, is to get people paid,” he said.

Guinasso previously produced a 310-page report during the proceedings detailing “bottlenecks” in processing claims.

The judge set another hearing for Aug. 20 at 9:30 a.m. to follow up on DETR’S efforts and determine whether he should change his current order or issue another order, in the form of a writ of mandamus.

Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@ reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter.