Getting application in for jobless benefits is only first hurdle, say people still waiting for weekly check

By comparison, jobless claims in the last few years have hovered around 200,000 a week.

People have complained for weeks about spending hours on the phone or the state Division of Employment Security website to file applications and get questions answered.

Now, many of those who have gotten through are still waiting for their weekly checks to arrive.

"It is a job – a daily job – to deal with the unemployment office," said Amanda Vaughan, whose husband filed for unemployment after he was laid off seven weeks ago.

"I think the process of just getting in touch with them has been the most difficult portion," Vaughan said.

After the couple finally got an application filed and approved, they waited and wondered why he hadn't received his jobless benefits.

"They had no idea why he wasn’t getting paid," Vaughan said,

"If there are no issues with a claim, a person usually receives their first payment within 14 days of filing their claim," DES spokesman Larry Parker said in an email. "Every claim is different, and without more detail, it's difficult to comment on the timing of an individual's payment."

Vaughan said her husband was told to call the same DES information number the couple had called so many times before.

"We know we can’t get through to [that], so, it goes full circle in frustration," she said.

"'I am sorry. The hold queue is full. Call back at a later time,'" she said, reciting the recording she's heard so often.

"That starts the hundred phone calls a day," she said, adding that the state unemployment system "is broken."

Parker said DES now has more than 1,000 people answering phones and has added evening and weekend hours. The agency also is launching an online chat function this week to help people.

Before the pandemic, DES would receive about 3,200 claims a week. On Wednesday, almost 19,500 were filed.

"Handling the volume of calls and requests for assistance is a challenge, and we are continually assessing how we can improve our services," Parker said.

Those moves don't help Joe Anderson, who has started selling some of his possessions while he awaits word on his unemployment application.

Anderson filed an unemployment claim the same day he was laid off near the end of March. But the claim is still being adjudicated, and the process could take several more weeks.

"It is pretty crazy that, still at this point, [I do] not have any sort of answers," he said. "We do have our bills to worry about, and not knowing where that is going to stand, I mean, is the most frustrating part."

Vaughan said the system could be more efficient if a phone line was set aside for those already approved – separate from people making new claims or those with general questions.