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New York State Department of Labor

As NY continues reopening, labor department says Shared Work program has helped retain or rehire 45,500 jobs

By Billie Owens

Press release:

The New York State Department of Labor today announced that so far this year, nearly 2,600 businesses have joined the state’s Shared Work program, which allows companies to avoid layoffs by connecting workers with partial unemployment benefits.

In total, these companies have leveraged the program to retain or rehire nearly 45,500 New Yorkers — the majority of them during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, the DOL announced more than $31 billion in unemployment benefits have been paid to more than 3.1 million New Yorkers during the COVID-19 pandemic — amounting to over 14 years’ worth of benefits paid in just over four months.

“This public health crisis has upended our lives and economy, but New Yorkers are finding ways to support each other and build back stronger than ever," said Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said. "Our Shared Work program helps businesses weather tough times like this, while preventing New Yorkers from losing their jobs.

"This program is a crucial resource that is helping thousands of businesses and tens of thousands of New Yorkers navigate these difficult times — and as the economy continues to reopen, we hope more businesses take advantage of this program.”

The Shared Work program is designed to help businesses manage the impact of economic downturns, while sparing workers from losing their income and other benefits like health insurance.

Employers who are considering layoffs or furloughs can instead keep employees at work with reduced hours while allowing workers to receive partial unemployment benefits for 26 weeks to make up for lost work.

Companies that are reopening but facing reduced demand can also leverage the program to rehire their entire workforce with reduced hours.

So far this year, 2,580 employers have joined New York State’s Shared Work program, compared to just 195 last year — an increase of 1,223 percent. In total, 45,455 employees have received Shared Work benefits in 2020, up from just 2,000 between January and June 2019.

In addition to keeping New Yorkers employed and helping businesses control costs during downturns, Shared Work allows businesses to retain skilled employees — avoiding the expense of eventually recruiting, hiring, and training new workers when the economy recovers.

Employers and workers can learn more about the Shared Work program here.

The DOL also released a new fact sheet on the Extended Benefits Program in New York which became effective July 5.

Thanks to the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) and Extended Benefits (EB) programs, New Yorkers receiving traditional Unemployment Insurance are now eligible for up to 59 weeks of benefits — up from 26 weeks before the pandemic.

Under federal law, those receiving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) are now eligible for up to 46 weeks of benefits.

To be eligible for EB, claimants must first exhaust all 26 weeks of traditional unemployment insurance benefits and all 13 weeks of PEUC benefits (a total of 39 weeks of benefits) and continue to be unemployed.

Alternatively, if a claimant’s benefit year for regular unemployment insurance expired after July 1, 2019 and they received the 13 weeks of PEUC benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic, they may be eligible for 20 weeks of Extended Benefits.

For updates about the PEUC and EB programs, New Yorkers should continue to check the Department of Labor website.

State Labor Department leader takes the hit as agency works to distribute unemployment checks

By Mike Pettinella

The head of the state’s Department of Labor shook off a question about her job performance today as she updated the agency’s efforts to get benefit checks into the hands of around 470,000 New Yorkers with pending claims.

Responding to a reporter who brought up that state Sen. Patty Richie has called for her to step down, Commissioner Roberta Reardon (inset photo below) said she doesn’t have time to worry about her critics in the midst of COVID-19, a pandemic that has thus far triggered more than 1.5 million claims and nearly $7 billion in payments in the Empire State.

“I haven’t seen those news reports,” Reardon said toward the end of a 20-minute conference call with the media. “I’m squarely focused on my job, which is getting benefits to unemployed New Yorkers and I know that the rest of the team at the DOL feels the same way.”

Reardon said the DOL is “moving faster and more aggressively in New York than any other major state, and as of today, we have paid over $6.8 billion to New Yorkers in just two months, and that’s over three times that we paid in all of last year.”

She said she understands that those still waiting for benefits are angry and confused, but emphasized that the agency is proceeding as quickly as possible.

“I do understand the frustration. I have spoken to people personally about this, and if you haven’t gotten your benefits yet, then none of these numbers matter,” she said. “That’s why I’m going to keep working night and day to process applications, complete certifications and make payments. And I’ll leave the politics to the politicians because I have a job to do.”

Reardon said that every state’s labor department is staggering under the weight of claims for both traditional unemployment insurance and the pandemic unemployment assistance passed by the federal government.

“Earlier this week, the federal government announced that over 33 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits since the coronavirus pandemic began to affect businesses,” she said. “And today, the federal government released figures showing that the unemployment rate in the USA hit 14.7 percent in April, and that is the highest rate since the Great Depression.”

The commissioner said the DOL has implemented several measures recently to streamline the claims process.

The latest, launched today, is designed to communicate more clearly the status of an unemployed New Yorker’s claim, she said.

“One of the things we heard from the media and directly from New Yorkers is the frustration with understanding where their application actually is in the process,” she said. “The system we have sees applications in binary terms – an application is ‘pending’ until it is ‘processed.’ So, we’ve worked within that system to figure out what milestones we can identify right now and communicate them as an application reaches those points.”

Reardon said that in the coming days, the DOL is going to roll out “a new effort to proactively inform New Yorkers about the status of their unemployment benefit application – using emails and text messages to communicate directly with New Yorkers when their application reaches the milestones in the process, and letting them know what step they are on and if any action is required and what to expect next.”

She pointed to previous action to speed up the process, including:

-- Issuing a directive to employers, reminding them they are required to provide New Yorkers who lose their job with the information they need to easily and completely file for unemployment;

-- Identifying and proactively emailing 90,000 New Yorkers with complete, processed and payable claims who have not submitted their first federally required weekly certification to release their payments;

-- And launching a new online process to allow 470,000 New Yorkers who did not certify in previous weeks to submit their prior week certifications and receive their back pay easier and faster.

Reardon said the DOL has processed more than 100,000 applications for PUA, which, she offered, is a more difficult application than the one used for traditional unemployment benefits.

“At the same time, today, 20 other states have not even begun to pay a single cent of PUA benefits yet and some have not even started accepting their applications,” she said. “This has truly been a colossal undertaking but I know these numbers are cold comfort for someone waiting for their first payment, and I want all New Yorkers to know that we will continue to work tirelessly to process their claims and make their payments.”

She also said that the agency has begun paying the $600 weekly payments to individuals with just “forfeit days” on their accounts, and that includes retroactive pay through April 5.

“For folks with other issues on their accounts beyond just forfeit days, we’re continuing to review what can be done,” she said.

After her prepared comments, Reardon answered several questions:

-- Asked about a wish list of resources needed, she first thanked the “voluntary state workforce” of 3,000 who have “stepped up and stepped out to help their fellow New Yorkers and that is really remarkable.”

She mentioned the addition of third-party call centers, 60 more servers on their main frame, thousands of new ports for the phone system, and the efficient Google application.

“But actually, my wish list would be a magic wand to make it go away,” she said.

-- Asked why it to so long to fix the DOL website and application system, that crashed in 2008, she pointed to the sheer volume of claims.

“We have 1.6 million New Yorkers processed in the last report, and we know that’s not the end of the applications; more people are coming into the system as we speak,” she replied. “There’s no state that hasn’t staggered and fallen to their knees under this. All of the states, even the states that recently rebuilt their systems, had their systems crash.”

She acknowledged that the DOL system needed an update and that one was under way.

“We did an RFP, it was an elaborate and articulate RFP that took a couple years to really get it through the system. We got our contractors and we were in the middle of a five-year rebuild and then the pandemic happened. It was a lot of forces all at once,” she said.

-- Asked about the problems processing of the PUA applications, she said things got off on the wrong foot.

“We all need to admit that it did not exist until March 27th. It was signed into law on March 27th … and we didn’t even get federal guidance on how to administer it as a program until April 5th and then the guidance was complicated and, frankly, contradictory,” she said.

“Early on, people were told they had to apply for unemployment insurance and go through the process of being denied, and then they had to fill out another application – PUA – and this was very difficult.”

She said the DOL developed a streamlined application on April 20th, but there were a lot of people who “got caught in that original glue-trap of bad regulation. And we are working on all of that; it’s moving much faster now.”

“The universe of potential filers for the $600 PUA checks is large and I don’t think they all will because many freelancers are working, frankly,” she said. “I’m very happy to say we are moving them through the system and more and more of them will be made whole every day.”

-- Asked if people were eligible if they turned down a job for health concerns, she said mentioned the state mandates regarding business reopening and the health protocols and advised anyone who “feels they are working in an unsafe environment should report it to the DOL because we will immediately investigate the situation and send inspectors out.

She then offered the following:

-- “Under federal law, if you are receiving PUA, you can not turn down a job because of generalized fear of COVID-19 or dislike of the job. And the same goes for traditional unemployment insurance.

--"Two, you can turn down a job because of a specific COVID-19-related health issue. For instance, if someone is told by her doctor that she is immune-compromised and had to self-quarantine, she would qualify for PUA.

-- “And, three, you can turn down a job because of other non-health COVID-19 scenarios and qualify for a benefit. For instance, you’re a child’s primary caretaker, and the child is unable to attend school or other childcare options because of COVID-19, you would qualify.”

'Unprecedented inundation' has NYS Department of Labor scrambling to serve unemployed

By Mike Pettinella

Update - 12:45 p.m.

“We know that businesses across the Empire State are bearing the brunt of this developing economic crisis, and that means hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers’ livelihoods are at risk. But we have a resilient workforce in New York State — and that will not be diminished,” said New York State Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon. “The keys to the success of our economy and job market are our forward-thinking employers and the hardworking men and women who make up our workforce.  Through innovative thinking, strategic partnerships, and high-quality training, we have made New York’s workforce the best in the nation, and we will continue that work. As New Yorkers weather this public health crisis, our Governor and the NYS DOL will be right here, working alongside all of you, to reenergize our economy and our workforce, and ensure New York State remains prosperous on the other side of this unprecedented challenge.”

----------------

Press release:

The New York State Department of Labor continues to deal with what a spokesperson says is “unprecedented inundation” of its phone and online filing system.

According to the agency, between March 23 and March 28, its phone system recorded more than 8.2 million calls, compared to 50,000 in a typical week – an increase of 16,000 percent. The online filing system received 3.4 million visits, compared to 350,000 in a typical week.

The department reports it is taking the following steps to reduce volume and increase capacity:

-- Asking New Yorkers to help reduce the surge by only filing unemployment insurance claims on certain days, based on the first letter of their last name.

-- Streamlining the process to make it quicker, and automating additional pieces of the process so there are fewer reasons a filer has to call.

-- Reminding New Yorkers that even if filing is delayed, you WILL still receive the entire benefit you are entitled to.

-- Dedicating 700 staff to DOL’s Telephone Claims Center.

-- Enlisting hundreds of additional staff – reassigned from within DOL, borrowed from other agencies and new outside hires, who are currently being onboarded and trained.

-- Extending the call center hours, including expanding service to Saturdays and processing applications on Sundays.

-- Adding more than 20 additional servers to support the website's capacity.

“We will continue to double down on all of these efforts to serve every New Yorker who is filing for unemployment insurance. We thank you for your patience,” the spokesperson said.

The New York State Department of Labor is dedicated to ensuring that every New Yorker who is entitled to UI benefits will receive all benefits due.  New Yorkers seeking to file an unemployment insurance claim can visit labor.ny.gov or call the Telephone Claim Center at (888) 209-8124.

NYS labor department announces initial unemployment claims since COVID-19 outbreak

By Billie Owens

Press release:

More than 80,500 initial Unemployment Insurance claims were filed last week, and overall claims increased by more than 520 percent over the past year, according to statistics released Thursday (March 26) by the New York State Department of Labor.

The claims data for New York State for the week ending March 21 --  the first week in which claims were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic -- show an increase by a minimum of 284 percent in each of New York’s 10 labor market regions.

Additional information about New York State’s UI claims, including regional and industry, will be forthcoming.

From Monday, March 16 to Saturday, March 21, the New York State Department of Labor received more than 1,734,100 total calls and over 2,270,300 web hits.

DOL has taken a number of steps to address this unprecedented increase in call volume and web traffic, including implementing a new, more efficient filing system based on the first letter of the applicant's last name (alphabetical order):

A  - F : Monday
G – N : Tuesday
O – Z : Wednesday
Missed your day: Thursday through Saturday

The New York State Department of Labor is dedicated to ensuring that every New Yorker who is entitled to UI benefits will receive all benefits due. New Yorkers seeking to file UI claims can visit labor.ny.gov or call the Telephone Claim Center at 1-888-783-1370.

State labor department inundated with nearly 4 million calls, website hits

By Mike Pettinella

The New York State Department of Labor fielded nearly 4 million calls and website hits last week as it reports up to 1,000-percent increase in unemployment claims in some parts of the state, an agency official said today.

“From Monday, March 16th to Saturday, March 21st, there were over 1,734,100 total calls and 2, 270,300 web hits,” said Deanna Cohen, deputy director of communications. “On Friday alone, we received more than 475,000 calls.”

Cohen said the department is addressing this situation in several ways, including increasing bandwidth, extending phone hours and assigning more than 700 staff members to handle the influx.

“This week, we also implemented a new, more efficient filing system based on the first letter of the applicant's last name (alphabetical order),” she said, with A-F on Monday, G-N on Tuesday, and O-Z on Wednesday.

Those who missed their day are able to call on Thursday or Friday.

“Our dedicated staff is doing their best to serve everyone as quickly as possible,” she said. “It is important to stress that everyone will get their benefits.”

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