CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Members of the West Virginia National Guard and workers with the state Division of Rehabilitation Services are joining state workers with WorkForce West Virginia and the state Department of Commerce in processing the thousands of claims from unemployed state residents because of the coronavirus.
Department of Commerce spokesman Andy Malinoski said Commerce Secretary Ed Gaunch and the governor’s office have come up with a plan to handle the more than 90,000 new claims filed during the past two weeks.
“WorkForce West Virginia and Commerce Department employees have been reassigned to process claims. National Guard employees are being trained to process claims this week and Rehabilitation Service employees will be on board in the next week or so to assist in this effort as well,” Malinoski said.
Crews are workings 12-hours a day, six days a week on the claims.
MORE: How to file for unemployment in West Virginia
The best time to file claims online is early in the morning and late in the evening, according to Malinoski.
“If they stagger the times that they’re trying to file those claims those are lower traffic times and the website can adapt and be a little more responsive then,” he said. “It’s also very important that people keep attempting to file until they receive a confirmation that the initial claim is filed.”
WorkForce West Virginia is asking is residents to give the agency three to four days to process their claims before making an inquiry.
Malinoski said the sheer volume of claims has been overwhelming but progress is being made.
“I just everyone understands that our employees are as committed as ever to process those claims so West Virginians can receive the benefits due to them and they’re working diligently to do that every day,” he said.
CARES Act
The agency is also fielding a lot of calls from residents about the additional unemployment benefits provided in the CARES Act approved by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump. WorkForce Acting Commissioner Scott Adkins said the state is currently awaiting guidelines from the federal government on how the benefits are to be distributed.
“There’s been a lot of confusion over how to apply for CARES Act benefits, so we’re telling people to be patient with us while we wait for the funding to become available,” Adkins said. “Folks can be assured that as soon as we get guidelines from the United States Department of Labor we will make an announcement and provide instructions on how to apply.”
Workers who don’t usually qualify for unemployment benefits will qualify under the CARES Act.
“Enhanced unemployment benefits provided through the CARES Act will be available to workers who normally don’t qualify for regular state unemployment benefits. Benefits include an additional $600 per week in addition to state unemployment benefits, and an additional 13 weeks of payments once someone has exhausted their benefits,” the agency said in a Thursday news release.
“All we can ask people to do is be patient,” Adkins said. “It will take a week or two for you to get benefits, but everything will be paid retroactively. You’ll be made whole.”