Many Delawareans are still waiting for unemployment benefits following confusion over a system error for self-employed and independent contractors who are out of work due to coronavirus, according to the Delaware Department of Labor.
The announcement refers to unemployed residents who filed for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which in Delaware was launched in May thanks to the federal stimulus package passed by Congress.
After going weeks without benefits, most of those claimants still haven't been paid and have been confused by the department's handling of their payments. Claimants watched their claims go from being erroneously marked as "processed" to not processed. The system marked "far more claims as processed than had been reviewed and approved by staff," according to a Wednesday morning Facebook post from the department.
"As a result of this system error, the online view for many claimants was changed to show a payment was going to be made," the post says. "We corrected this problem and as a result, the 'Processed' status was reversed for claims which had not yet been approved for payment."
Those claimants already had to wait several weeks longer than other unemployed Delawareans, who have been able to apply for benefits due to coronavirus in mid-March, because the department was waiting for guidance from the federal government on how to roll out this program, according to Labor Secretary Cerron Cade.
Since the program launched on May 16, more than 6,000 claims have been filed that would lead to more than $14 million in benefits, according to a Friday news release from the department. That's about 6 percent of the total number of people who have filed for unemployment.
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The claims will be paid in "batches" after they pass the internal review process, the post says. The program pays anywhere from $733 to $1000 per week in state and federal benefits.
"To date, a few hundred initial PUA claims have been paid with more expected in the coming days and weeks as the process speeds up," the post reads. "We are working as quickly as possible to review, approve, and pay these unique claims while avoiding the threats of fraud and identity theft occurring around the country."
The process for these claims is taking longer than for traditional unemployment because the department doesn't readily have pertinent data on self-employed or independent contractors the way they do for traditional employees. This includes employee wage data, social security data, and other personal information that helps the department verify when the employee became out of work, according to the department.
Because the department doesn't have this data for self-employed and independent contractors, it has to cross-reference each applicant with IRS data and data received from the Delaware Department of Revenue to make sure they are eligible.
"We also have to develop a new strategy to determine whether their particular situation actually qualifies for PUA under the strict guidelines issued by the US Department of Labor; guidelines that are changed and clarified weekly," the department's statement said. "Finally, we must also verify a person's identity to protect their benefits from sophisticated fraud and identity theft activity from criminals attempting to take advantage of this crisis."
Despite the Wednesday apology and the explanation in the department's Facebook post, many self-employed and independent contractor claimants aren't satisfied that they still have to wait for their money.
"It doesn't look good for Delaware," said Hillary Blatt, a Rehoboth Beach resident who says she is one of the claimants still waiting for payment. "Something is not happening there and the things that are happening are not correct."
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The system error and backlog is the latest fumble from the department as it scrambles to adapt and keep up with historic levels of unemployment during the coronavirus pandemic. The claims in the first ten weeks of the state of emergency have amounted to more than the state has seen in the past three years combined, which has overwhelmed the department.
Emails have gone unanswered, phone lines have been backed up and many Delawareans were frustrated in the early springtime because they couldn't get in touch with a real human to help them with their claim.
The department has since set up call centers to help people who have questions or issues. To date, more than 100,000 people have filed for unemployment in Delaware since Gov. John Carney declared a state of emergency in mid-March.
Once businesses were forced to close due to the state of emergency, the department expanded benefits for people who lost work or are unable to work due to coronavirus. Nearly 80 percent of claims have been paid since then, according to the department.
Sarah Gamard covers government and politics for Delaware Online/The News Journal. You can reach her at (302) 324-2281 or sgamard@delawareonline.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @SarahGamard.
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