2,500% surge in unemployment claims challenges benefits process
To claim North Carolina unemployment insurance benefits due to COVID-19, out of work North Carolinians must go to the NC Department of Commerce website and file a claim for unemployment, complete their weekly certifications. Recipients can check their claim status through the website.
After they file their claim, their previous employer has 10 days to respond to the Division of Employment Security (DES). DES will not make a payment until after this 10-day period. If there are no issues, recipients typically receive a payment within about 14 days of filing their initial claim.
“I realize and appreciate the Division of Employment Security has experienced a spike in volume unlike anything seen in history,” said Sen. Jim Perry (R - Wayne, Lenoir).
Over 300,000 North Carolinians filed for unemployment benefits in the last two weeks of March with COVID-19 as the primary reason. According to the Tax Foundation, for the period covering March 14 to March 21, North Carolina experienced a greater than 2,500% surge in unemployment claims.
A Survey Monkey analysis on the unemployment sign-up process (as of this report) showed only 10% of the survey takers stating that they could file for Unemployment with no issues. Out of 168 survey takers, 39.88% said they tried to file online, but the website was not working properly. 20% of the survey takers had their online employment file rejected even though they met the criteria.
On the same survey, the question of how long the survey takers have been without a paycheck; 30% said three weeks or more, 37% said two weeks, and 14% said one week or more.
The final question was how long before those waiting on unemployment ran out of money; 32% said they were already out of money, 20% said within one week, 21% said within two weeks.
The North Carolina General Assembly State Senate penned a letter to Tony Copeland, Secretary of Department of Commerce asking what help they need to streamline the unemployment process that will enable North Carolinians to get paid.
“In order to provide the relief the people need, Governor Cooper and Secretary Copeland must provide leadership by responding in a manner also unlike anything seen in history. We need bold solutions not bound by the traditionally slow-moving confines of government bureaucracy,” said Perry.
According to the letter, DOC is increasing its capacity in response to the surge of new unemployment claims by opening a new call center with a private contractor, hiring additional staff to help process claims and upgrading the Divisions IT capacity so they handle processed claims effectively.
The General Assembly asked Secretary Copeland what concrete steps on manpower and technology is he taking to rectify the backlog of unemployment claims. They also asked if some or all of the entire workforce at the Department of Commerce be repurposed to help the Division of Employment Security.
“My colleagues and I stand ready to support courageous solutions that greatly speed up, and improve this process. We are all in this together, and our people need a different result than what we see today,” said Perry.
