Just a few months ago, Georgia’s unemployment rate was at the lowest levels ever recorded.  After less than two months of pandemic induced shelter-in-place orders shuttering businesses, Georgia has processed more unemployment claims in seven weeks than it did in the worst year of the great recession.

The rush to put a record number of Georgia’s workers onto unemployment rolls all at once has created additional frustration for those who have found themselves out of work.  Many have taken to social media after getting denied for claims or unable to get questions answered immediately.  Some have even questioned the financial health of Georgia’s unemployment system or the state itself with regard to the ability to pay claims.

I spent some time on the phone last week with Mark Butler, Georgia’s Commissioner for the Department of Labor.  I learned that not only is the system financially sound, but that Georgia is far ahead of many others in processing claims.

Much of the confusion for those getting denials of claims stems from new federal unemployment assistance provided under the CARES Act.  Under this new law, an additional stipend of $600 per week is added to unemployment benefits through July.

The law also covers workers paid via 1099 or other alternative compensation forms – workers that were not covered by employers’ unemployment insurance premiums.  These workers, by law, must have their claims for unemployment denied, as they are not entitled to benefits from the pool of money funded by Georgia employers to be used for future unemployment claims.  This is when the CARES Act kicks in.

Workers that are “unattached” to employer funded benefits are entitled to Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which is funded not by employers, but by federal taxpayers. They are also then entitled to the same $600 per week Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) which is also paid by federal taxpayers.

The numbers are already staggering.  The good news, if any, is that the Federal Government is making regular payments to the state to fund their portion of this liability - $3.3 Billion as of last week.  The state, meanwhile, had amassed $2.6 billion paid by employers into the trust fund used to fund unemployment claims during the economic recovery.

The result is that Georgia has been able to pay $780 million in claims from the state’s unemployment fund and an additional $2.3 billion in federal funds, and still has billions in the bank for future claims.

Newly unemployed workers will see claims paid the fastest if their employer filed their separation electronically.  This not only makes the processing of the claim more efficient, but indicates to the Department of Labor that the claim isn’t challenged.  Employers otherwise have 10 days to contest an unemployment claim, with the customary time from claim to first payment taking approximately 3 weeks

Those filing claims that are not attached to a former employer will see a longer process as their claims are processed and verified.  They should be reminded that DOL employees are also working under conditions related to the pandemic while also seeing record volumes of claims.

The DOL, like many state agencies, came into this downturn a significantly leaner organization than it was during the last economic downturn.  The 2,200 employees of the department a decade ago have seen their ranks dwindle to roughly 1,000.  They’re still ahead of most other states in both volume and percentage of claims processed for payment.

Everyone is stressed, and those wondering how to make ends meet certainly have the right to answers as well as the checks they are entitled. As one of my colleagues told me in an interview when this first started, in all things now “we all need to start from a position of grace and understanding”.

Those seeking unemployment assistance need grace from all of us.  We also owe the same grace and understanding of thinly staffed government agencies tasked to help in the same conditions that many of us are not allowed to go to work, with employees handling volumes never before seen.