North Carolina state Sen. Vickie Sawyer (R-Mooresville). | Courtesy Photo
North Carolina state Sen. Vickie Sawyer (R-Mooresville). | Courtesy Photo
A North Carolina senator has voiced frustration against the North Carolina Division of Employment Security’s handling of unemployment claims.
Citing The News & Observer article about the employment system being “swamped” because more than 300,000 people have applied for benefits, state Sen. Vickie Sawyer (R-Mooresville) posted comments on the Iredell County Republican Party’s Facebook page about the situation.
“A lot of frustration with the DES Unemployment System,” Sawyer responded on Facebook. “The NC Senate is in constant contact with that department and ready to help them any way possible.
Initial frustration with the employment division's handling of claims focused on individuals being unable to talk to people by phone, The News & Observer reported.
“They are hiring more people, adding a call center and working to increase their electronic platform capacity," Sawyer posted to Facebook.
As of April 2, the North Carolina Division of Employment Security’s website had an alert regarding system maintenance.
“We will be doing maintenance on our website this evening from 7 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Some applications may be impacted,” the alert said.
By April 3, a new alert on the website said regarding unemployment benefits: “After filing a claim, it will take about 14 days to receive the first payment. The additional $600 in federal benefits will be for weeks ending April 4 – July 31. DES is awaiting guidance for issuing those payments. Benefits owed will be paid retroactively.”
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