Conn. jobless claims keep pouring in

In advance of the May 20 “Reopen Connecticut” date, when many businesses can resume activity with restrictions, the state continues to see escalating numbers of initial claims for unemployment insurance, an indication that businesses are skeptical of any quick rebound in revenue to support jobs.

The Connecticut Department of Labor has paid out nearly $1.3 billion in unemployment benefits since the coronavirus pandemic triggered a public health emergency declaration by Gov. Ned Lamont, who ordered the closure of dine-in restaurant service, malls, salons and other businesses. The state begins easing some restrictions next week, with safety precautions still limiting many establishments from a return to business as usual any time soon.

In all, Connecticut has received more than 500,000 applications on initial claims for unemployment, equating to 27 percent of the state’s workforce entering March, including more than 28,000 in the most recent week. That number includes 16,000 independent contractors and entrepreneurs filing for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits who have seen their revenue disappear, according to Dante Bartolomeo, deputy labor commissioner.

As employers bring workers back onto payrolls, those individuals will be able to continue collecting a percentage of their benefits, sparing entities like restaurants from having to foot the full payroll as they ease from takeout service to outdoor table service, and eventually to a resumption of dining room service.

“If they are going back (for) less than full time, then I highly recommend that they continue to file on a weekly basis,” Bartolomeo said. “We take two thirds of their wages reported, ... and we deduct that from their weekly benefit rate, so it depends on what their weekly benefit rate is.”

DOL has cut processing time for new applications to one week, according to Bartolomeo, but complaints continue on DOL’s ability to respond to those encountering delays in getting money, and on the process for solo entrepreneurs to initiate benefits under a multi-step Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.

Bartolomeo said DOL is adding additional lines and has reassigned 15 people in the past week to staff the phones, and for the first time is training that group to access the IBM database that forms the foundation of the Connecticut DOL system. That will allow them to find answers to some basic problems that is freezing applications — provided claimants can get through.

“They are going to be limited to the things we can train people on in a week, ... but it will definitely help,” Bartolomeo said.

DOL plans to bring on an additional 60 people by mid-June to help for the remainder of this year and possibly into early next year.

Includes reporting by Ken Dixon.