Thousands of appeals for benefits still in line
Backlog delays jobless payments for months
Michelle Bump has been waiting since December on unemployment payments.
Bump, who lives in Milwaukee, filed for unemployment last year after losing her job in the service industry. She found out her claim was denied in midFebruary and filed an appeal right away, hoping to resolve the issue and access her unemployment benefits.
What she didn’t count on was getting caught up in the massive backlog of appeals waiting to go before the Department of Workforce Development’s administrative law judges for a decision.
Bump ended up waiting nearly five months for her appeal to get in front of a judge, finally landing a hearing at the beginning of July. She received a notice that she’d won the appeal on July 27, but still is waiting for the benefits to be released to her.
“I stopped filing in March, it’s not a giant claim or anything,” she said. “It’s frustrating that it’s taking this long.”
Luckily, she and her husband had money saved up from before the pandemic, and she was able to find a job this year after losing her old one last year, but things have still been rough for her family, including her children.
“The biggest thing is having to put things off, because you don’t know if you’re going to get that money. Like right now, we’re in a situation where thank goodness we have two vehicles, but one of them is not in good condition whatsoever,” she said. “But you have to prioritize what’s going to be the most important, that one vehicle or what the child wants.”
Bump’s appeal is one of tens of thousands awaiting a resolution, as Wisconsin continues to grapple with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts to an unemployment system that was unprepared to deal with it.
“It seems they expect people to know all the ins and outs of (the unemployment system). It absolutely doesn’t feel fair to me, with everything that’s happened.” Alex Stensberg
Modernization, new hires touted as fix for appeals backlog
While Wisconsin isn’t the only state struggling to keep up with the high number of appeals pouring in over unemployment, the number of claims waiting on a decision is somewhat staggering.
Currently, there are more than 4,700 appeals scheduled, with another 13,151 appeals pending, as of July 31, the most recent data available from the department. The average age of appeals filed that are awaiting a hearing is 58 days.
The number of appeals is forcing claimants to wait months to get their claims in front of a judge.
A report also recently found that the state was failing to comply with federal regulations regarding appeals, which requires that 80% be resolved within 45 days. Between December 2020 and May 2021, the department was only resolving 20% of appeals within that time period, leading multiple claimants to report the department to the Legislative Audit Bureau, a nonpartisan group that evaluates state operations.
The bureau recommended the department hire additional staff to work on the backlog of appeals, develop a plan to reduce the number of outstanding appeals and comply with federal regulations, so that appeals are resolved in a timely manner. The bureau also requested a report from the department in September, with details on the status of appeals.
The department accepted the recommendations, and said in July that the IT system upgrade will reduce the amount of manual tasks for staff during the preparation and scheduling of hearings. It is also considering hiring more administrative law judges.
But some are skeptical about the department’s ability to handle appeals, especially as the number of waiting claims grows.
The department said the number of appeals has grown for multiple reasons, including the implementation of the federal unemployment programs, which sometimes require multiple appeals for some claimants. Delays and changes in guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor have also impacted appeals, said Jennifer Sereno, the communications director for the department, as well as the end of the work search waiver causing more unemployment denials that are appealed.
Sereno said budget issues for the department prior to the pandemic also caused issues, because openings for administrative law judges, as well as other positions, weren’t filled before the wave of claims hit the department early last year.
“The increased rate of appeals, especially given the sheer number of claims filed and determinations issued since March 2020, was particularly challenging to navigate given the staffing levels in place preceding the pandemic,” she said.
Currently, the department has 55 judges handling appeals, who handle anywhere from 25 to 40 appeals a week, Sereno said. The department is in the process of recruiting three more permanent judges and 20 more project judges to help with the backlog.
The department is also in the process of updating its antiquated system, which led to many issues during the pandemic.
“In addition to expanding the number of administrative law judges, updating our IT systems will reduce the number of manual tasks that staff do during the preparation and scheduling of hearings,” Sereno said.
‘It’s extremely frustrating’
But despite the department’s attempt to help the backlog, some have still waited long periods of time, causing financial worries and stress.
Alex Stensberg was traveling out of the country when the pandemic hit and the job he worked in a hotel in Wisconsin Rapids was affected. Before he left the country, his employer had agreed to let him return to the job when he came back to the states, but between a change in ownership and the pandemic, his name slipped through the cracks.
When he applied for unemployment, he was denied both because the new owner of the hotel said he didn’t work there and because his claim was filed from outside the country. He tried to appeal the decision that he was fired, but didn’t hear anything.
“Between those two things, I stopped filing, mostly because I thought that was it for me,” he said.
He returned to the states, and was informed in July that his appeal for the denial was accepted. A judge ultimately overturned the denial after an explanation of what happened. Stensberg then back-filed for the months he missed when he thought he didn’t qualify for unemployment.
But filing those claims late led to another problem. When a department employee called to ask why he filed late, he explained, but those filings were denied. He appealed the decision, and now stands at square one again.
“I got excited because I’ve been struggling financially,” he said. “But now I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Stensberg and his partner now live in New Jersey, where they’re living with family as he works a warehouse job in an attempt to save money and recover for the blow of not being able to access unemployment.
“It’s extremely frustrating because it’s been an up and down rollercoaster from me not getting money to finding out I could get thousands. There are things I could use that money for, I’ve had to borrow money to pay bills,” he said. “It’s been a really tough, mental and emotional thing for me.”
Stensberg feels like he’s fallen through the cracks during the pandemic, and feels that the issues he’s had point to bigger issues, especially when it comes to how difficult it is to file a claim and then know what to do next so the process isn’t stalled.
“I’ve never filed for unemployment,” he said. “But it seems they expect people to know all the ins and outs of it all. It absolutely doesn’t feel fair to me, with everything that’s happened.”
Kara Muñoz, of Neenah, is also still waiting on the appeals process.
She applied for benefits in January, after losing her sales job. She applied for unemployment but was denied after her previous employer said she was fired. The whole process of adjudication was difficult, she said, and it seemed like the person in charge of her claim placed the word of the employer above hers, ultimately asking her very few questions before making the decision.
Muñoz quickly filed for an appeal the same day as a denial, and then was forced to wait for months until a hearing was scheduled.
In the meantime, Muñoz started her own business, a cheesecake shop, and has been making do with her income from that. But not having those months of unemployment has set her back.
“I was lucky enough to have some savings, but it’s gone now,” she said. “... I’m eight months into this process. Hopefully that’s enough time, but I don’t have a cushion anymore. It’s been much more difficult than it had to be.”
Now, with the delta variant spreading across the country, Muñoz is worried for her new business, as well as other small businesses in her community.
“I can see how things are going, and people barely made it last time,” she said. “If (shutdowns) happen again, they won’t this time.”
Bump, of Milwaukee, said she hopes that people take precautions against delta, so that she’s not forced to reapply for unemployment again. But, if she has to, she will take her chance with the incredibly long wait for benefits.
“We don’t have a choice,” she said.