Some jobless Nevadans losing hope on receiving unemployment pay

Laura Shipton has been calling Nevada’s unemployment benefits agency every day since her husband filed a claim in mid-April.

Shipton and her husband have maxed out credit cards to buy food and have depleted their savings.

Since the pandemic struck Las Vegas and other cities across the U.S. in March, millions of workers have filed for jobless claims. Four months into the worst recession in decades, many Nevadan workers like Shipton’s husband have yet to receive any payments.

They are in dire financial straits.

DETR pressure

The Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation has been under mounting pressure to pay out claims quickly, most recently being ordered by Nevada Judge Barry Breslow to begin paying some self-employed workers and independent contractors starting Tuesday.

The department has seen more than 577,152 claims this year with more than 550,000 being filed since the week ending March 14.

Despite the increased claims, the department has still not given clear answers as to why filers have not been receiving their payments and often encourages them to contact a representative by phone to clear any issues.

Shipton, a psychiatric technician, says she would wake up at 7:30 every morning to call DETR and navigate through the system to get a callback. When they do call back, Lipton is told that she needs to wait for adjudication.

“At a point, you just give up,” she said. “It’s been over three months now. It’s never going to happen. It’s a pipe dream.”

Positive cases at work

Several employees at Shipton’s workplace recently had positive coronavirus cases. With COVID-19 surging across the state, Shipton worries another shutdown will affect her own employment.

Shipton’s husband returned to his trucking job this week despite a medical condition that puts him at a higher risk of serious illness.

“It’s getting to the point where there’s nothing left,” she said. “He doesn’t give a crap about his health anymore because we need money coming in. He said he’s willing to take that risk or my family won’t eat. That’s giving up.”

Contact Jonathan Ng at jng@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ByJonathanNg on Twitter. Contact Subrina Hudson at shudson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Follow @SubrinaH on Twitter.