Jobless benefits division set to hire

Letter cites surge in aid applications

State lawmakers on Friday authorized the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services to hire nine new employees to help process an influx of applications for unemployment insurance programs that have been expanded because of the covid-19 pandemic.

The positions come as the Division of Workforce Services — which falls under the umbrella of the state Department of Commerce — has struggled with technical issues rolling out applications for the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which offers unemployment benefits for independent contractors and the self-employed.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act passed by Congress in March covers the cost of the expanded unemployment benefits program as well as the new positions, according to Brian Hicks, director of Financial Management at the Division of Workforce Services.

Charisse Childers, the director of the Division of Workforce Services, said in

a letter to the state Office of Personnel Management that the new positions were needed to help the division fulfill its added workload under the CARES Act.

“Our goal is to provide these services as efficiently as possible, and I believe this can be achieved with the proper staff on board,” Childers wrote in the letter. “Currently, we do not have a sufficient number of positions to meet the required responsibilities, as this public health emergency and its impact was unanticipated.”

The Legislative Council on Friday approved the request to add the positions — at an expected cost of $445,446 a year — by a unanimous voice vote.

The only question came from state Sen. Will Bond, D-Little Rock, who asked, “Do you need more help?” Childers responded that the division also is working to fill existing positions that are vacant.

“We have other full-time and extra help positions that we have advertised and we are filing as we speak,” Childers said.

More that 25,000 self-employed Arkansans signed up during a test period for the expanded unemployment insurance program earlier this month. Of those, about 30% had to resubmit their applications due to a computer glitch, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported.

The nine positions approved by Legislative Council on Friday include two program manager positions and seven workforce specialist positions. The managerial positions have a salary range between $50,222 and $72,822 a year, while the workforce specialist positions pay between $36,155 and $52,425 a year.