Washington state’s unemployment system woefully unprepared for COVID-19 shutdown
The year 2020 will be remembered for many reasons, among them the highest number of unemployment claims made in American history. Not since the Great Depression has our nation seen such significant job loss.
According to Washington’s Employment Security Department (ESD) 1,455,908 Washingtonians have applied for unemployment since Gov. Jay Inslee issued his “Stay Home. Stay Healthy” orders in March.
And those numbers keep climbing. Last week, more than 100,000 Washingtonians sat in front of computers and applied for unemployment for the first time.
Add to this financial crisis another one: Approximately 265,000 Washingtonians are still waiting to receive unemployment funds.
State and federal government worked quickly to fund workers left bereft by the swift economic shutdown; a federal stimulus package even added a weekly sum of $600 on top of regular unemployment.
Unfortunately, that money doesn’t always come easy. For some, it hasn’t come at all.
The state’s 80 year-old unemployment system is complicated. Despite numerous technological upgrades in servers and software, ESD wasn’t prepared for the onslaught caused by COVID-19.
Governments should always plan for worst-case scenarios, but no one saw this pandemic coming. Still, it’s frustrating when over a million Washingtonians visit the ESD website weekly to reapply for benefits, and many are met with “Page cannot load” across their screens.
The advocacy group Working Washington summed up applicants’ frustration in a letter to Inslee: “We continue to hear from workers who are unable to file claims, bewildered by technological language and contradictory instructions, put on hold for hours at a time when they try to call.”
On Friday, ESD spokesman Scott Michael advised listeners to Tacoma-Pierce Chamber of Commerce’s thrice weekly webinar to apply during “wee hours” to ensure better success. “Early birds and night owls should be in good shape.”
Hear that, folks? If you want to avoid the bottleneck, you might consider setting the alarm for 3 a.m.
That’s nobody’s idea of a good long-term strategy for filing jobless claims. Additional ESD employees and technological upgrades are needed fast.
Michael said most applications will be processed by mid-June. They even have an ambitious slogan: “Operation 100 percent” — as in, 100 percent of the unemployment claims will be processed.
But mid-June? In coronavirus time, when bank statements are hovering close to zero, four weeks can seem like an eternity. Washington workers deserve better.
Michael attributed most delays to incorrect filing. Of the state’s 265,000 claims that have not been paid, he said 187,000 are due to incomplete applications.
Weekly ESD webinars have been instituted to help applicants avoid common mistakes, but unlike the library or other user-friendly websites, there is no ESD chat system; if applicants have a question, they have to send an email and wait. And then wait some more.
No wonder folks are falling through the cracks.
Another 57,000 people need some adjudication before their applications can be processed. ESD says its people are working fast to review applications and are busy hiring more adjudicators.
To date, no computer software can replace a skilled adjudicator, and given the cases of fraud that are emerging, that review process should not be skipped.
Denied applications are sent to the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH), where fewer than 40 administrative law judges review the denials. You don’t have to do the math to know that more judges are needed.
Meanwhile, Washington State Alliance for Equal Justice, a Seattle-based nonprofit, is hiring lawyers to help people navigate the OAH appeal process.
Since March 7, ESD has paid out nearly $2.14 billion in benefits. WSD Commissioner Suzi LeVine recently released a statement assuring applicants: “Our trust fund is solid.”
That’s good news. But those funds need to be in the hands of people before spring turns to summer. A quarter of a million Washingtonians are waiting.
This story was originally published May 12, 2020 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Washington state’s unemployment system woefully unprepared for COVID-19 shutdown."