Nearly a third of unemployed Oregonians have to wait at least three weeks to get their jobless benefits paid, according to new federal data, extending a steep decline in timely payments that began a year ago.
It’s the first publicly available information that quantifies how the employment department has performed since it launched its new computer system, Frances Online, in March.
The employment department says it’s unsure whether the latest numbers accurately capture the situation, citing possible issues with the data associated with the transition to the new computers. Regardless, the troubled agency said staff will work additional overtime to more promptly address claims.
Real help may not come before August, when state funding kicks in to add more personnel.
“We know people are already facing difficult situations with the loss of employment, and we know that waiting any amount of time is difficult,” David Gerstenfeld, the employment department’s director, said in a statement Wednesday. “We also acknowledge that it is especially frustrating when they can’t get through to us on the phone or have to wait on hold for long periods when they do.”
Frustrations have intensified over the past two months, after the employment department introduced Frances Online to handle jobless claims. The agency says its problems predate Frances and the new data suggests that is correct.
The employment department promptly paid more than 90% of claims for most of 2022 and 2023. Performance declined precipitously beginning last summer as pandemic-era federal funding dried up and the number of staff processing Oregon benefits applications dropped by two-thirds.
By the end of last year fewer than 70% of claims were being processed within three weeks, the federal standard for timely payment. The numbers indicate performance briefly improved in January but then regressed in February and March.
Just about 40% of new claims were paid within a week in January, according to the data, down from around 70% in most of 2022 and 2023.
“Generally, these numbers are much lower than we were expecting to see for the month of March,” the employment department said in a written statement.
The agency said believes data issues associated with the switch to Frances Online may have overstated the payment delays, though it said it won’t know for sure until it has more data from the new computer system.
The employment department said the federal numbers are “very narrow in scope” and don’t capture a full picture of its performance, or some of the recent efforts to improve operations. Still, the agency said “we don’t expect significant increases in these particular metrics in the short term.”
New funding authorized by the Legislature won’t boost staff until the second half of August, the employment department said Wednesday. The agency hopes to add 67 employees to process claims by then, increasing the number of personnel working claims by 16%.
In the meantime, the agency said it is increasing the amount of overtime staff works by 200 hours per week. It’s hoping to bring in personnel from other parts of the agency to work an additional 320 hours of overtime.
Altogether, that’s the equivalent of adding 13 more employees working 40 hours a week to the current staff of 409 who deal with claims. The agency said the funding for the additional overtime comes from money it holds in reserve each budget cycle to cover unexpected costs.
The employment department said it is making progress in other areas, thanks in part to Frances Online.
It said the new technology has helped it reduce the average time staff spend adjudicating a complicated claim from nine days to two days. And the agency said workers are getting more proficient, and more productive, with the new computers.
“While we are already seeing major performance improvements, we know it will take more time to further refine the program, which impacts so many workers and employers across the state,” said Lindsi Leahy, director of Oregon’s unemployment insurance program.
-- Mike Rogoway covers Oregon technology and the state economy. Reach him at mrogoway@oregonian.com.
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