Oregon unemployment claims system suffers another breakdown, tells laid-off workers to start over
Newly unemployed Oregonians encountered further trouble with the state’s system for filing jobless claims Sunday, reporting that the state told them to start over with their applications – even if they had already been receiving benefits.
The Oregon Employment Department apologized last week for a series of breakdowns in its system that has prevented many people from filing for benefits. Statewide, at least 1 in 8 Oregonians have lost their jobs in the past few weeks – nearly 270,000 altogether, as the state’s economy shut down in hopes of containing the coronavirus pandemic.
Workers who successfully file their claims must refile each week to continue receiving benefits. In Sunday’s breakdown, the employment department’s filing system instructed those laid-off workers to “Restart Your Claim” from the beginning, according to screenshots claimants provided to The Oregonian/OregonLive. The system incorrectly told workers they had to start over because of changes in their employment status.
It’s not clear how many people are getting the erroneous messages Sunday but dozens of people wrote on Twitter they had encountered the problem. It’s also unclear whether those workers should in fact restart their claims, as the system instructs.
Read more: https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2020/04/oregon-jobless-claims-system-suffers-another-breakdown-prompts-laid-off-workers-to-reapply.html