Interstate jobless claims causing unemployment benefit delays

It’s like Alexis Cossman is the monkey in the middle between the employment offices of Ohio and Nevada.

Cossman, who moved last summer to Las Vegas from Columbus, Ohio, has an interstate jobless claim and hasn’t received any unemployment pay since she filed a claim in Nevada on March 17. She was furloughed as a bartender on the Strip as the hospitality industry shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“In order to get my claim processed, I had to speak to an agent, so it took a month to get (a representative for Nevada’s employment office) on the phone,” she said. “They told me they needed Ohio’s wages. I called Ohio, same problem of not being able to get through. Finally got a hold of Ohio and asked them to send the wages over. All this time, this is what I’ve been doing — back and forth calling.”

Cossman is not alone. Others who have made Nevada home within the past year and have filed for unemployment are being directed to provide earnings from their former home state.

But when the former state sends the required documentation, Nevada’s Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation still tells claimants it has not received any information.

The process is making filers feel like they are in “purgatory.”

DETR Director Heather Korbulic said during a Friday media briefing that the department has about 36,815 traditional claims that are held up because of a pending issue. It’s unclear how many of those are interstate claims.

In the middle

It’s been one year since Daniel Ponsky moved from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. He was laid off from his hotel job in March and filed for benefits March 12.

Over a month later, he was able to contact a DETR employee, who told him California did not submit the requested wage information. Ponsky then contacted California’s unemployment office, which informed him the office received the request March 13, processed it and sent it back to DETR on March 15.

He followed up with DETR and was told to mail his W-2 form.

“I had 40-some-odd dollars to my name, and it cost me $8 to send it to DETR,” he said, adding that he is still waiting for benefits. “I moved to Nevada. I live in Nevada. I’ve got a Nevada ID, a Nevada license plate. I pay my taxes in Nevada … but why am I being stuck in this purgatory that nobody’s talking about and nobody’s addressing?”

DETR did not comment on how the unemployment office manages documentation submitted by claimants and from other state unemployment agencies, but it did explain what network it uses.

“The process of handling documents submitted by claimants requiring coordination with other states’ unemployment offices is done electronically through the Unemployment Insurance Interstate Connection Network (ICON),” DETR spokeswoman Rosa Mendez said. “This is the system that allows state UI agencies to request and receive data for use in the filing and processing of combined wage claims.”

But even with the network meant to streamline the back-and-forth between state unemployment offices, Nevadans like Sarah Milner feel left in the dark.

Paper trail

Milner moved with her husband to Las Vegas from Illinois in May 2019 and has been out of work since April 1. She’s expected to return next week but is still waiting on her benefits.

The handful of times she has been able to reach DETR, she has told the department is still waiting for Illinois to send her wages.

“You’re telling me that Illinois has not sent anything since April 1?” Milner said.

Milner has had better luck getting through to DETR than to Illinois’ unemployment office, adding that she has yet to speak with an Illinois representative.

Her claim status is now “ineligible,” and a DETR employee said Wednesday morning it happens automatically when a claim is unresolved for an extended period of time but would change once Illinois submits her wages.

“That didn’t make sense to me,” she said.

Meanwhile, the delay is causing financial strain on Cossman, who said Ohio has already submitted her wages to DETR five times, with each time turning into a several-week process.

“I don’t know if they’re being sent by carrier pigeon or what,” she said.

Cossman, whose car was repossessed last week, was able to return to one of her two restaurant jobs in a part-time capacity.

“When I went back to work — and this is not a joke — I had $8 in my bank account, and I had to use $5 to take the bus that day,” she said.

Contact Subrina Hudson at shudson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Follow @SubrinaH on Twitter. Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter.