Rep. Doyle seeks changes to unemployment compensation system

Rep. Doyle Heffley (R-Carbon) delivered a letter to Labor and Industry (L&I) Secretary Jennifer Berrier demanding action regarding the state’s unemployment compensation (UC) system.

Hefley’s office has received nearly 1,000 constituent complaints since March 2020 and is currently averaging between 17 and 20 calls weekly. The majority of the calls are from manufacturers forced to close because of supply-chain issues and seasonal employees.

“Our office has been handling calls from claimants who have not been able to collect benefits due to them or who are awaiting adjudication from a UC referee for several months,” Heffley said. “These claimants are doubly frustrated because they cannot get through on the phone or via email to anyone in the UC office. When they do get through to someone, they are told that the person answering the phone cannot help them – they will just take the claimant’s name and number and assign them a number in the queue to have someone call them back. Many claimants have been waiting weeks for a callback. This is unacceptable.”

L&I launched a new UC system in June, and Berrier announced more than 400,000 people had successfully used the system. This is approximately the same number as before its launch.