Tens of thousands of Oregonians are waiting for jobless benefits – some have been waiting since April. Phone lines at the Oregon Employment Department have been hopelessly jammed since March, so most people can’t get through to resolve even simple issues holding up their payments.
The reasons claims get held up vary considerably based on individual circumstances.
Self-employed workers, previously ineligible for benefits, must navigate a complex new system created when Congress expanded benefits in March. People who work for school districts, live in another state or lost their jobs under unusual circumstances must sometimes have their claims adjudicated – a process that now takes up to 14 weeks.
Still, there are some basic steps anyone awaiting benefits can do. These steps may help you learn more about your claim and, in some cases, expedite a resolution.
- Contact your state representative and state senator. (The state has a site online to find out who your legislators are.) Lawmakers have liaisons to the employment department and can sometimes help untangle thorny issues – though lawmakers, too, are facing a deluge of questions.
- Try the employment department’s new contact form for long-delayed claims.
- If you’re a self-employed worker, use the department’s new form for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims. You don’t need to re-file your initial claim, but the department says refiling unpaid weekly claims with the new form will expedite claims processing.
- Check back regularly on the employment department’s website and read the news every day. Circumstances have changed many times in the past four months and are likely to continue to change.
-- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway