Computer error blamed for missing unemployment checks
Some people in New Hampshire are recently not receiving their unemployment checks. It appears that the state’s computer system is not handling a status change of affected persons correctly:
“We’ve noticed that there’s a small universe of individuals that the computer system is just preventing us from paying,” said Darrell Gates, deputy commissioner of the Department of Employment Security.
Gates said a computer glitch is the problem. The state provides 26 weeks of unemployment, then federal emergency unemployment compensation kicks in for 20 weeks. Starting in May, the federal government started providing an additional 13 weeks. But some people who qualified for extended unemployment are not getting checks because the system isn’t recognizing when they go from the first level to the second.
Employment Security officials said that the problems are being addressed, and that they have a plan to make sure people receive the money they need.
“If we don’t get it solved quickly we will be issuing manual checks to these individuals simply so we can get them paid,” said Gates.
The key point here is that the system is preventing users to pay out for those cases. Not only is the system not recognizing the correct status change, it is also apparently not providing a way for users to override the system’s results.
This obviously means a great deal for those relying on their unemployment checks. Even if the money is paid out retroactively, a disruption for days or weeks can directly affect people’s ability to pay for food, rent and bills.
