Officials address concerns in delayed unemployment benefits

May 29, 2020 | 12:10 am

Updated May 28, 2020 | 11:17 pm

Graphic by Owensboro Times

The Education and Workforce Development Cabinet reported earlier this week there are 60 initial unemployment claims from Daviess County that have still not been paid.

Both Judge-Executive Al Mattingly and Mayor Tom Watson have contacted the state in order to help some frustrated residents get their COVID-19 unemployment benefits since Kentucky’s unemployment insurance system has sputtered after being inundated with claims.

“The claims that have not been paid are complex in nature and deal with issues like identity verification, interstate claims, overpayment and employer protest,” said JT Henderson, spokesman for the state Education and Workforce Development Cabinet. “Our team continues to work hard to get them processed as quickly as possible to get Kentuckians the benefits for which they qualify.”

Henderson reported there are still some 14,000 unresolved claims from March and 40,000 from April in Kentucky.

“Their claims obviously are very, very high,” Watson said. “They went from 7,600 last year to now 50,000 coming in April. So it’s tough on them.”

Mattingly said part of the problem with delayed benefits could be as simple as checking the wrong box when filing for employment. He said rather than claiming their next check, people are accidentally filing a new employment claim.

This creates two separate claims for one person, which causes the system to kick the application out.

“A lot of times the State’s hands are tied by federal regulations,” Mattingly said. “The State is aware of (the effects on people) and they’re working really hard on it.”

Watson said there are 27 different variables that applicants have to pass in order to get approved.

“Therein lies some of the problems with some of the folks not getting their unemployment because if one of the 27 are found, then it has to go to hand processing to find out if they’re eligible or not, and that does take a while,” Watson said.

Some of the difficulties applicants face when trying to get answers have been getting kicked off the online application portal, being on hold for hours only to be cut off, or not receiving a return call.

Watson said the state has since hired 2,000 temporary workers with a two-week training crash course rather than the normal six months of preparation. Kentucky had about a dozen people handling the unemployment phone lines when the wave of claims hit.

Jobless numbers in Daviess County, like the Commonwealth, began to spike in mid-March as Gov. Andy Beshear ordered “nonessential” businesses to close to help reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus.

For Daviess County, the Kentucky Center for Statistics recorded 11,719 initial unemployment claims filed from March 15 through May 3.

Almost every sector of the state’s economy saw a downturn. The top four industries in Daviess County that had the most claims were manufacturing, retail trade, healthcare and social assistance, accommodations and food services.

Said Watson, “Sooner or later the rest of the people have to be working or we’re going to be in real trouble.”

May 29, 2020 | 12:10 am

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