More than a third of Washington unemployment claims remain unpaid. ‘This thing is so scary’
To stay afloat, Jamie Schossow of Lakewood worked as a hairdresser, a substitute teacher and a temporary educator at her daughter’s school.
None of the jobs paid a lot, but she and her 12-year-old daughter got by.
Then the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting shutdowns hit, and Schossow lost almost all of her income.
Schossow, like more than 787,000 other Washingtonians as of the last week of April, filed for unemployment.
Six weeks later, she told The News Tribune, she’s still not received any benefits.
“It’s just so hard, because it’s so unknown,” Schossow said. “If I knew that money was coming in at some point, I would know if I could pay my utilities or do I need to hold on to that money?”
The Employment Security Department announced that since March 7, it has provided more than $1.5 billion in unemployment benefits across Washington, but that is not enough to cover the need.
An estimated 36 percent of those with completed filings for unemployment benefits have not received payments, department spokesperson, Jim Vleming told The News Tribune.
“We know that people are struggling all across the state, and many are in desperate situations. We have received more initial claims in the past seven weeks than the previous three and a half years combined — it is a truly staggering amount of people affected by this crisis,” ESD Commissioner Suzi LeVine said in a statement on Thursday.
State to respond to backlog
The department is compiling a list of people who have not been helped and plans to contact them in the coming weeks, Vleming said. Those who have not yet been paid will receive benefits retroactive to the date they filed, he said.
He urged people to continue to file weekly claims and have patience with the agency.
Educating the public about the process is becoming a priority for the department. Frequent issues like answering questions incorrectly, misunderstandings and not filing weekly claims can lead to a denial or an adjudication, which is a hearing to give someone a chance to state their case for unemployment. Common mistakes in applying are addressed on the state ESD Facebook page. There will be weekly webinars for unemployment claim questions and advice.
Vleming said the department plans to hire about 1,000 new employees to mitigate the tsunami of requests. In coming weeks, the department is expected to eliminate several adjudications as quickly as possible, he said.
LeVine said the money for unemployment will not run out, and pending claims will receive all the eligible benefits from the state and federal government.
‘I can’t get through to anybody’
While the state ups its education efforts, Tacoma’s Leanne Dukes has helped six Pierce County residents file for unemployment.
Dukes’ daughter told her friends her mom had experience with the system, and folks out of work began asking for her to help walk them through the process.
Dukes considers herself fortunate to work from home but wants to do what she can to help others through the pandemic.
“I feel bad for these people,” she told The News Tribune. “They have kids and are stuck in the house and have zero dollars. They can’t get through to anyone to find out what’s wrong with the application, and everything is a dead-end. It must be awful.”
Of the six she helped, two have received payments, Dukes said. She said it seems to depend how people were employed and how big the employer was. Applicants with a 40-hour work week at a large employer were approved.
Schossow wonders if people with “gray area” jobs have fallen through the cracks.
She is self-employed as a hairdresser, so she applied through the federal government’s Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. The program was set up to help those who do not normally qualify for unemployment: independent contractors, freelancers, the self-employed and part-time workers.
In addition to hairdressing, Schossow also subs when possible and temps at her daughter’s school. The temp position continues to provide about $700 a month as a classroom assistant, even though Schossow has not worked once the class transferred online. Her three jobs make it confusing on how to file, she said.
Schossow added income of the temp position to the online application, but didn’t have her 2019 tax information because she has not yet filed . The Employement Security Department sent her an email, saying that she did something wrong and now her claim is in an adjudication process.
Does she continue to apply to both unemployment and PUA? Should she mention temporary jobs in the PUA application? How can she correct a mistake? Does she need to do her 2019 taxes before they approve her?
Schossow said she has so many questions, but it’s been impossible to get on the phone with anyone.
“I don’t know about unemployment benefits because I can’t get through to anybody,” she said. “It’s scary not knowing when this is going to end.”
The state was given funds and the authority over the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance in mid-April. Because the process was only recently created, there has been a huge influx on claims in a short period of time, Vleming said. The sheer volume has been a setback. Several of those who were not eligible through state unemployment in normal circumstances, like those self-employed, have not received funds, he said.
Tacoma resident Margaret Rasor is a dental hygienist who was furloughed after Gov. Jay Inslee ordered all dentist offices and other “non-essential businesses” to close.
Every week, she applies for unemployment benefits. Every week, she is denied. Rasor considers herself fortunate because her husband is still receiving a paycheck.
She believes her rejection stems from her temping at several dental offices last year because she doesn’t have specific dates worked at each office. Once a temporary job ends, ESD considers an individual elligible for unemployment benefits. Rasor says she has called hundreds of times to no avail. She even mailed a letter to the office trying to clarify her application.
“It’s super frustrating to not be able to talk to anybody or get any reassurance that it is eventually going to go through,” Rasor said.
Both Rasor and Schossow said they will continue to email and call the department about their claims.
Schossow is grateful for help from friends and family, but the status of her unemployment claims are always on her mind.
“This thing is so scary so I spend my entire day looking for other jobs, because I don’t ever want to feel this insecure about my life again” she said. “I’m exhausted. I can’t believe how tired I feel not having a job.”
