Cape Fear residents voice frustrations navigating the unemployment process amid COVID-19

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — If you’ve been laid off during the coronavirus pandemic, you may already know how navigating the unemployment process can be frustrating and confusing at times.

WWAY looked into the process as many in the Cape Fear began raising concerns about the website and call center.

Since last Monday, the NC Department of Commerce Division of Employment Security has received about 50 times the number of applications they are staffed to handle.

“We have processed 149,542 claims,” said DES spokesman Larry Parker. “In a typical week, we would process about 3,000.”

Parker says the DES expanded server capacity last week to deal with the larger volume of users applying online. However, some people are still experiencing crashes.

“We’re asking folks to just stay patient, that the system will save your claim from your previous screen, and you can always log back in and go in and finish it,” Parker said.

Others are seeing error messages that don’t allow them to proceed or issues delaying payment.

When trying to call to resolve these issues, many are reporting hours long hold times or being unable to get through at all.

“You’re not able to get through, you’re not able to hold,” said Eternal Sunshine Cafe employer Chelsea Pherson. “Everything disconnects, every phone call just disconnects.”

Parker says DES is working on that issue as well.

“We have 50 positions that we’re working to fill as quickly as possible to help out with our call center staff,” he said.

If you’re having an issue delaying payment, Parker says that most likely means your former employer has not responded yet. They legally have 10 days to do so.

However, Pherson says she’s had difficulty trying to approve her former workers.

“We’re trying to do everything we can to provide them with the support that they need financially during this time, and we’re unable to,” she said. “Because as employers, we can’t get through the system that is clearly very overloaded.”

Eternal Sunshine Cafe owner Michael Pellegrino says because he owns his two restaurants through an LLC, he should be eligible for unemployment while they are shut down.

However, he’s been denied.

“It says that I’m already associated with a primary applicant of myself and to please try again,” Pellegrino said. “So I’m not exactly sure what that means, but again when we try to call and get through we cannot do that.”

The DES says if the employer does not respond within the 10 days, the adjudication unit will review the claimant’s information before making a determination.

Parker says if other employers are experiencing similar difficulties, they can email des.employersupport@nccommerce.com.