While waiting to see the state representative, who handles problems with unemployment claim issues, I listened to the conversations that people were having with the intake staff. Many said that the phone numbers for resolving unemployment issues do not work. Staff members listened patiently to each one, not volunteering that they had been given this information multiple times. I had experienced the same thing and had informed those at the front desk on my way in as well.
There were long wait times at the Colorado Workforce Center in Brighton, CO last Thursday, January 26th. Many of the issues people are having with their unemployment claims could be resolved quickly via telephone, but the phone numbers do not work. I am told that wait times of around 4 hours are typical.
If you are one of the 7.9 % of Coloradans who are currently out of work and seeking employment, you have probably had to work through questions or issues regarding your unemployment benefits claim. By now, most of us realize that calling on the two phone numbers provided in the handbook, Guide to Unemployment and Getting Paid Benefits, (303)318-9000 and 1-800-388-5515, are not going to get you far in resolving your problem because they do not work.
The issues with telephone resolution have been ongoing for several years. This is documented in a 9 News article dated from 2008,
"According to average daily hold times given to 9Wants to Know by the Labor Department, since Sept. 27 callers averaged 41 minutes on hold before reaching a live operator. The longest hold time was more than two hours. At times, some callers were able to get to an operator without waiting on hold at all." (Callers Put on Hold for 2 Hours by Unemployment Call Center by Jace Larson November 2008)
Those were the good old days, four years ago, when you could still get through to a person. As of the date of my article, 1/31/2012, The toll free number is disconnected and the Denver local number directs you back to the website. Given the difficulty in resolving anything by telephone, the only thing left to do is see someone in person.
A state representative for the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment offers services for resolving problems with unemployment benefits claims at the Adams County Workforce Center office, but only on Thursdays. There is a cap on the number of people they are able to take in the course of a Thursday for unemployment claim issues.
The front desk staff told a lady that came in after me that they don't take more than 50 people and that she could see if there was time at the end of the line for them to take her. It was predicted to take 4 hours. She waited for about an hour, and then left.
The room was filled with people, many with small children. A young couple with a baby had driven to the new facility at 4430 S. Adams County Parkway in Brighton from the Greeley office. They came more than 30 miles out of their way because the Greeley Workforce Center just takes 40 people per day and only offers the service one day of every two weeks. That is every other Thursday. Many of the smaller Workforce Centers do not offer the service at all.
One woman told me that she arrived when the building opened, she was number 25, and had waited approximately 4 hours to be seen. Once her number was called, she was in and out of the office in a matter of 4 minutes. Many of the issues seemed to be resolved quickly, as most people were in and out of the office in under 10 minutes.
When it was my turn to see the state unemployment claims representative, Juan Comacho, I asked him why the problem with the phone lines had not been resolved. He told me that there is going to be a call center starting to take calls in March of 2012. He said that they are currently hiring for those positions, and that they are posted on the state employment website.
I went to the website to look for the job postings: http://agency.governmentjobs.com/colorado/default.cfm
Colorado Official State Web Portal-- There are currently 3 jobs posted under the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. They include: a part-time, bilingual internship; a hearings officer; and a project and technology improvement position. I expected to see something like unemployment claims specialist or unemployment claims customer service position, but there was nothing of the sort.
It is surprising that the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment would hire new employees since they just laid off some of their employees last year when federal stimulus funding ran out, as is framed in an article from 9News last year, "The Colorado Department of Labor - which runs the state's unemployment offices - could have to lay off workers as one-time federal stimulus funding runs out...Between 30 and 100 positions could be cut...The state labor department is undergoing an organizational assessment currently to see what positions it can eliminate that will have the least amount of impact." (Layoffs Coming at Unemployment Office by Jace Larson July, 2011)
I called the Adams County Workforce Center to ask about the unemployment call center jobs and I was told that they may not be posted yet. It is not clear that a call center would fix the issues with the system, though. The longterm problems with Colorado Labor and Employment system are even known by the U.S. Department of Labor, because they conduct audits, but it seems that little has been done about the problems. In his 2011 article about Colorado's assessment by the U.S. Department of Labor, Brian Maass wrote the following: "Colorado fell below minimum federal standards in five out of nine core measures. For “separation determination quality,” an acceptable score is 75 or above. Colorado received a score of 30, besting only North Carolina and the Virgin Islands." (CBS4 Investigates Problems With State Unemployment System by Brian Maass, May 11, 2011)
So basically, it sounds like the only two worse places to try and work through unemployment issues are North Carolina and the Virgin Islands. Since the articles that highlight problems with the State Unemployment System begin 4 years ago, and the problems that led to the writing of those articles have not been resolved, it doesn't look like these issues are going to change anytime soon either. It just doesn't seem that the problem is getting much attention. Even though I am hopeful that a new call center could make a difference; it would be better to model the system from a successful state and start over.
All of the following links were accessed 1/31/2012
(Callers Put on Hold for 2 Hours by Unemployment Call Center by Jace Larson November 2008)
Colorado Official State Web Portal
http://agency.governmentjobs.com/colorado/default.cfm
Layoffs Coming at Unemployment Office by Jace Larson July, 2011
http://www.9news.com/news/article/208577/339/Layoffs-coming-at-unemploym...
CBS4 Investigates Problems With State Unemployment System by Brian Maass, May 11, 2011
http://denver.cbslocal.com/2011/05/11/colorado-unemployment-director-say...
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